Ice
by Carmen Delta
Summary: <html><head></head>A retelling of Hans Christian Anderson's famed The Snow Queen. Serenity lost her childhood best friend to an apparent mythical witch; and even after a number of years, still cannot forget him. Vowing to do all she can, she promises to bring him back home</html>
1. The Wise Man

**AN: **Hi friends! New story here that I've been wanting to write since before _In the Docks _(and I even have the first draft back from July '09 to prove it!). Reviews are always appreciated, and encourage me to get chapters out faster! But without further ado...

Disclaimer: Naoko Takeuchi and Hans Christian Anderson own more stuffies than I do here! :( Mega thanks to Kaitlyn Fall who has beta'd this and the next chapter.

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><p><strong>The Wise Man<strong>

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><p>There are fewer mysteries in the world than how the Wise Man came to be. Those who speak of him do so in hushed voices and fervent whispers. There are some who consider him a myth – a fearsome but fictional character made up to frighten children and make them behave.<p>

But the Wise Man was not a myth, and some of the rumours had small hints of truth to them. The Wise Man was a fallen angel; that much was correct. And his talents and delight of terrorising the good people of the Living World were hardly exaggerated.

Victims of his 'amusement' were rarely heard of again.

His dwelling lay high above the Living World in a suspended fortress. The large sphere was where he spent all of his time, when not down on Earth satisfying his thirst for entertainment.

And so it is with the Wise Man that we begin our tale; our tale of friendship and loss and love and the strength of courage.

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><p>The Wise Man glided back to admire his work. If he had a mouth, it would have warped itself into a cruel and sinister smile of satisfaction. But what remained of his face after his Fall from Grace was hidden beneath a dark, hooded cloak. Instead, a faint eerie glow from twin sunken holes in his melted flesh was all that indicated his pleasure at the sight of his creation having been complete at last.<p>

Though the entire room was made of enchanted mirrors – some transports to other realms, far, far away; some bewitched in other ways, of hunting humans or seeking answers – it was _this_ mirror that he was most proud of.

This mirror that he hovered before could ruin the very universe. There was not a being in the Living World who could not fall to their knees from the mirror's power. It could overwhelm even the Earth's proudest man.

For this mirror was enchanted in the most wicked of ways. A creation of the Wise Man's, this mirror was the product of every bit of sorrow, misery, hopelessness and despair that the Wise Man had created in his victim's before their cruel and untimely deaths. It had the power to distort its own reflection – anything good or beautiful was dissolved into nothing, and anything horrible and ugly was magnified until it was the only thing the viewer could see. Nothing good could come out of this mirror.

The only exception was the Wise Man, for there was no more evil or ugliness to magnify in his appearance, and it showed him exactly the way he appeared. He was the Devil. He could look no worse.

As he pondered where to start his worldly torture, his fingers sought his crystal ball. They swirled above it and a faint hum began to sound from within the glass. Moments later, five figures emerged from various mirrors around the room.

It was the Four Sisters and their leader Rubeus; angels the Wise Man had dragged down with him after the Fall. Presently, the sisters Avery and Prisma were partaking in a silent feud, having argued over the best way to polish off their latest innocent. Avery had wanted to stretch their victim to his death; Prisma had wanted to poison him. But in the end, it had been Rubeus who had finished the man, having him drown in the nearby lake.

"You called, Master?" Rubeus inquired humbly, bowing at the waist, as did the Four Sisters around him.

"I have a task for you," the Wise Man's deep voice echoed around the round room. It would have sent shivers up any human's skin, had any been present.

"Anything, Master," his five apprentices murmured at once, bowing once more.

His glowing eyes flashed once more in the mirror. "It involves travelling to the Living World with a very special creation of my own."


	2. The Accident

**AN: **The second part to the set-up of the story. I promise the next chapter has more meat to it! I'm really enjoying writing this story so far, have written four chapters in less than two weeks which is way better than I usually manage, as some of you may know! Also, I feel that I've been quite clever using the situations/characters I have (you will see by the later chapters), so be pretty impressed by that, kthnx ;)

**Disclaimer: **Story inspiration/original plotline from Hans Christian Anderson, Sailor Moon characters from Naoko. Happy thanks go to the epic Kaitlyn Fall, who, by the way, returns chapters at the speed of metaphoric lightning! It's great! So you should all thank her. Yupsies.

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><p><strong>The Accident<strong>

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><p>And so it was that the Four Sisters and Rubeus travelled the globe, spreading the sorrow and despair of the mirror's power to all four corners.<p>

They enjoyed propping the mirror up for rich and vain ladies and gentleman to stumble upon; the beautiful gold ornate frame drawing them to the wicked magic like the mirror's victims to its deception.

They prided in likening beautiful country-sides to little more than vast wastelands of rot and decay.

They exulted in driving poor and desperate beggars and street urchins to extreme and often violent measures of suicide; anything to drive away the maddening images they had seen in the mirror that hounded them non-stop until the moment their hearts beat their final beat.

Silent mirth was smothered further by the apprentices as they watched, hidden, the humans recoil in horror and fear at what they saw reflected before their very eyes. The magnified ugliness and wretchedness of the beholder could frighten even the least vain man.

As a rather beautiful young woman dashed away from the mirror, hands clamped over her mouth to hide her slightly overlarge front teeth – teeth which she now believed to be rather similar to that of the beaver – the sister Catzy spoke.

"Where shall we exploit next?" she asked, rubbing her hands as a cool wind blew past. The temperature dropped in every area they travelled to. It was as if the more Earth's inhabitants succumbed to the mirror's magic of sadness, the more the Earth chilled over. Like the mirror was sucking the joy out of the world itself.

The Four Sisters and Rubeus knew this knowledge would please their master greatly.

"I'll bet not even God's precious angels could resist the mirror's power," Rubeus said gleefully, an evil smile carving its way into his thin, pointed face. "Or perhaps even the Almighty One himself!"

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><p>The Wise Man gazed through one of his enchanted mirrors as his apprentices grouped around his Wicked Mirror, each grabbing a section and lifting themselves into the air. In curiosity, he watched as they rose higher and higher into the sky, heading not towards his dome, but directly up towards the Heavens.<p>

But something strange was beginning to happen around them.

The breezes that the mirror's grief and sorrow had caused blew and blew. The apprentices' fingers all began to lose what little colour they'd originally had, and the mirror began to jerk to and fro from the force of the wind.

The Wise Man glided closer to his mirror, fear beginning to inch its cold fingers over his heart – or what little of one he had left. He could see that the strong winds were no match for the apprentices, who were losing their hold as their bare arms and icy fingers trembled. And yet foolishly, they continued to climb the skies rather than return to the sturdier world below.

Birdie began shrieking as her fingers began to glue themselves steadily to the glass. Avery yelled something at her in return, only for Catzy to yell at her, and Prisma to start in as well.

Soon, the Four Sisters were fighting amongst themselves, with Rubeus trying to regain their attention and control. But it was futile.

The wind slowly began to gain command of the mirror, and soon it was wretched out of the apprentices' hands, with painful cries all round as skin was ripped from fingertips and palms. The apprentices charged after it, only to be blown back by an opposing gust of wind. As they wrestled against the gale, the Wise Man's attention was captured by something else.

The mirror was losing height as it was carried diagonally back to the earth. And in its path stood a large and steadfast mountain!

"No!" The Wise Man's gargled cry sounded as he reached out to his own mirror and clutched the frame in both hands.

Though the mirror provided no sound of its own, the fallen angel could hear the smash of the glass as it collided with the mountain right inside his very head. It would be a sound forever more stuck inside his mind.

But all was not lost for the cruel devil. Though he longed to weep at the destruction of his creation, he began to see that there was still hope for his weapon.

The mirror had smashed into millions of billions of pieces, it was true. Some so miniscule that they could not be seen by the unaided eye. But every little shard still contained the wicked magic of despair.

Over the next few years, carried from the wind and waters, the mirror managed to find its way into every corner of the globe once more, and from here, it had even more of an advantage than it had as a whole.

You see, some pieces were used in manufacturing glass for store window fronts, or spectacles. In these cases, the window fronts reflected even the most beautiful of garments as tatty rags, and put the owners out of business. The same would happen to the next owners, and the next owners, until finally the shops began to close down, and things had to be sold on the blackmarket in stalls to feed the families.

If they ended up in spectacles, this was even worse for the wearer, as no matter what they saw, it was twisted and warped into the very epitome of ugliness until there could be no more beauty found in the world. The owners often committed suicide to escape the black world in which they lived, and their possessions, including their spectacles would end up in a pawn shop, where another unsuspecting innocent would soon take up the same fate. And so the vicious cycle remained.

An eye with a splinter blown in would suffer much the same episode as the spectacle wearer, only worse as there was not a moment's relief – not even while they bathed or slept. Never would they find the stinging object they could feel lodged in the socket, nor would they see the same ever again. They would forevermore see grey.

But the _unluckiest_ person would personally intake a splinter of the mirror to their own body, by means of swallowing, whether by accident or food. Through the body the splinter would travel until it wormed its way into the warm, beating heart of its joyful owner. And a heart pierced with the mirror would freeze over, never to feel love or joy or emotional warmth again. They were forevermore black.

And it is to a recipient of both of the above that we move on in our story. This is the story of Endymion and Serenity.


	3. The Children

**AN: **Nothing much to say, really! Am happy with this story so far. And the usual disclaimer to Naoko and H. C. A apply. Many thanks to our talented Kaitlyn Fall for beta-ing! ^_^ And thank you so much for your kind words, all who have reviewed. You make me SQUEE!, you really do.

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><p><strong><span>The<span> Children**

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><p>Serenity sat sadly on the edge of her bed, toying with the loose threads in her clothes without really seeing them, and kicking her feet slowly. Her curtain of golden hair fell forward and hid her face as she slumped forward onto her knees.<p>

Her eyes drifted from under her fringe, taking in every detail of her room, the room that had stayed mostly unchanged her whole life. The wooden floors, scuffed and worn from years of shuffling over; the tilted and almost comically dangerous lopsided furniture, including her dresser, table and chair; the small and haphazardly stacked pile of books in the corner on the floor, the lumpy bed she now sat on. In fact, the only thing in the room that wasn't tarnished or old was a shiny silver frame that sat on the edge of her table, facing her bed. The black and white image was what her mother fondly called an _à__la natural_ – a photograph taken in the middle of action, without pose or preparation.

The photograph showed a much younger Serenity, laughing as she hugged a boy, who clutched his stomach as he himself laughed just as hysterically. With his darker hair and eyes, and his expression forever frozen on the page of laughter and yet a hint of something else – something that perhaps suggested he knew more than the photographer – from those inky shadowy eyes indeed seemed to radiate a presence from the picture, something that could either drive Serenity to nightmares or tears or laughter occasionally.

She could still hear his laugh echoing in her head, and she held on to that. There was nothing she'd give to ensure she could keep his memory with her for the rest of her days.

And here she was, alone in her bedroom on the day of her fifteenth birthday. She didn't want to bother her mother or father at the bakery, and it was much too bothersome to make the trek across town to the lake to find the rest of the kids her age, who were happily enjoying their holidays from school, skating away on the ice, which has just hardened enough for the activity.

She'd thought Endymion would be there with her but he wasn't and she didn't know where he was and she was sitting in her room on her birthday _alone_.

She sighed in frustration and sprang to her feet, hunting around the room for her shoes with her eyes when the door opened and she swung around to meet her intruder.

"Where have you been?" Serenity asked in exasperation at the boy. "I thought you'd forgotten it was my birthday or something and I was about to go sulk in the book shop!"

"Sorry Sere," the boy breezed with a confident smile as he leant against the door, his tall frame taking almost the bulk of the doorspace. He shook the snow out of his hair. "Was at the blacksmith's all morning."

"But you were there yesterday," Serenity countered with a narrowing of her eyes. She placed her hands on her hips and regarded the slightly older boy before her. "Endymion, are you lying to me?"

"Me?" he asked with an expression of the upmost innocence, which quickly melted into mischievousness. "Maybe. Oh, I'm kidding, Sere!" he said when she raised her eyebrows. "Lord knows you make it difficult for one to give you their birthday present..."

With the hand that wasn't leaning on the doorknob for support, he reached behind his back and pulled from apparent thin air a small and badly wrapped parcel (Endymion was good at magic tricks). It was no larger than the palm of his hand, but as Serenity took it, it looked much larger in her own slim hands.

Serenity darted a curious look up at her best friend, who only watched her with his accustomed smirk.

She sank back down on the bed and turned the present over in her hands, admiring the wrapping style ("Gran wasn't around and you know how I'm no good at putting anything together with my own hands," Endymion commented as she raised an amused eyebrow) as she tried calculating what the present could be, given the odd shape and weight of what lay inside. It wasn't heavy exactly, but it felt solid and important. Serenity didn't own many important things.

The bed squeaked and sank beside her as Endymion sat beside her, crossing his legs and looking the picture of ease as he watched expectantly. Serenity unwound the ribbon, which was in her favourite colour of red, and slipped her index finger under the grey wrapping paper, flipping it open.

"Endy," she said in a low, odd voice. "Please tell me this isn't what I think it is."

"She'd want you to have it, Sere," he answered without missing a beat. "I know she would. Gran even agreed."

"This was your _mother's_," the blonde said quickly and harshly. "How can you just give it away? No," she pushed it back into his hands, but he refused to take it. "I can't take it Endy. It's too important, it means too much. Too much to you, too much to your Gran-"

"And so do you. But my mother is gone now and it's useless just sitting in her drawer, gathering dust. It's a symbol of love. My dad said so when he gave it to my mum. And you're like my sister, that's definitely a kind of love. If you don't accept it, you're telling me you don't love me." And at Serenity's exasperation, the boy had the audacity to pout!

"Don't you love me, Serenity?" Endymion asked with a trembling lower lip and puppy dog eyes.

Serenity laughed and punched him in the arm. "Like I love a," she cleared her throat. "Brother." She looked down at the object in her hands. "It's beautiful, Endy. Really. Thank you so much."

Without a reply, Endymion then leaned across and picked up one of her hands, bringing it to the top of her gift. "If you hold it here and twist a fraction – there, feel it catch? – you'll..."

Soft music began to play, and the pair stared down at the golden star-shaped locket as its tinkling melody filled the room, both lost in thought for different reasons.


	4. The Early Winter

**AN: **Hey all, hope you are enjoying this story! Yuppers. Thanks go to H. C. A., Naoko and Kaitlyn Fall, for various and previously mentioned reasons! Hooray!

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><p><strong>The Early Winter<strong>

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><p>A couple of hours later found Serenity and Endymion playing chess – something Serenity wasn't very good at but insisted on practicing. The pair sat on old rickety chairs on the balcony, covered with a blanket each and rubbing their hands against the chilly wind. Though it was cold, this was Endymion and Serenity's favourite place in the world, and so they braved the weather.<p>

"So were you at the blacksmith's for the locket?" Serenity asked as she moved a rook, intent on capturing one of Endymion's knights. She shivered as a particularly chilly breeze carried past, capturing her hair and making it dance over her shoulders. Serenity willed the crawling sensation that was currently making its way up her back to leave her be. It was messing with her concentration.

"Uh-huh. Had to get the catch fixed. The lid wouldn't open when I tried it last week. Guess it hasn't been played in a really long time."

Since the deaths of Endymion's parents seven years previously, Endymion had been brought up solely by his Grandmother. Over the years, Serenity's and his relationship had evolved from friends to close friends to best friends to practically siblings. In fact, as one was rarely seen without the other by their side, most of the town considered them so anyway, especially after...

"It's getting cold out," Serenity noted as she tucked the blanket further around her legs and snuggled into her coat, that crawling sensation in her spine now joined by a nagging feeling at the back of her head. She didn't understand either of them. "Earlier than usual this time of year too. I'll miss the roses while they're sleeping."

Endymion made his move and glanced around them at their private garden. Every type of flower they'd been able to find in and around their village over the years were there. Their shared balcony was like a small floristry. But a favourite of Endymion's and Serenity was the rose – particularly the red. It had fascinated them as young children, and even years later, its ethereal beauty still managed to entrance them.

But around them, flowers were dying. Autumn had come too quickly this year, and winter was fast approaching. No flower stayed in the cold if it could be helped.

Serenity made a careless move and Endymion captured her pawn, eyeing a hole she'd left in her defences. He reached for his knight.

"Check," he said.

Serenity scowled and hunched over the board, planning her strategy again.

"Darlings, it's getting cold out. No sane person could stay out here. Come in please," Endymion's grandmother called from up the stairs.

"Coming, Gran!" the teenagers called back. Serenity picked up the blankets and folded them over her arm. She would be glad to be inside, where the cold couldn't play tricks on her body like it was doing so now, actually. She didn't like the creepy crawling or annoying nagging sensations – they almost felt ominous in some way.

"See if you can wrangle us some hot drinks?" she asked as she began the balancing act that was the beam between their two balconies. Though living in adjacent houses, their balconies were remarkably close together. When they'd been younger, Endymion and Serenity had knocked down a wall of each balcony and slid a thick beam between that acted as a walkway.

Only what had been considered 'thick' as children was now seen as much, much thinner to the teenagers. Endymion's long strides meant he only required one step on the wood, whereas Serenity had to dance her way across as lightly as possible. Neither thought much of changing the wood.

Endymion held the chessboard flat on his hand, intending to take it down to his lounge room. "Only if you bring some of your birthday cake from downstairs. Saw it on the counter; don't pretend you don't have one."

"I was going to share!" Serenity laughed. "I'm appalled you would think I wouldn't!"

"We don't call you bottomless pit for nothing," Endymion said, winking as he disappeared through the staircase.

"Who calls me that!" Serenity cried out indignantly, already descending her own. "How rude," she continued a couple of minutes later as she emerged through Endymion's kitchen, bearing two plates of vanilla cake. "Who calls me that?"

"Eh, not telling," Endymion grinned from his seat at the table. Serenity slid his slice in front of him and eyed the board.

"Oh shoot," she said. "I'm going to lose."

"You were going to take my rook to get to my King, weren't you? And then I'd-"

"Yeah, yeah," Serenity grumbled. "I don't need a play by play."

"Well it's just that I know you aren't going to want to properly finish the game now that you can already see you're going to lose, and I just want to say checkmate while you're still paying attention and all..."

"Oh you are so unsportsmanlike! I don't think I'll play another round of chess for the rest of my life!"

"That's for sure," Endymion's grandmother agreed as she ambled over with two mugs of hot chocolate. "You two raise up such a racket when you play games in this house! Now get on over by the fire, or you'll catch your death!"

Serenity flicked Endymion's Queen over and carried her plate and mug to the couch, where she huddled into the corner and curled up. "Thanks Gran," she said as Endymion's grandmother threw a blanket over them both, snuggled in the opposite ends of the couch.

"Well, isn't this lovely?" Gran asked happily as she settled herself into the armchair closest to the fire. "A lovely autumn afternoon spent reclining by the fireplace with loved ones." She smiled to herself, and her old, wrinkled skin crinkled around her eyes, the same smile that occasionally gave Serenity and Endymion a glimpse into the beautiful face she had once had in her youth.

"I wouldn't call this autumn," Endymion disagreed, blowing the steam from his mug. "More like early winter."

As they turned to look out the closest window, indeed the beginning flakes of snow were seen gliding down lazily past the glass.

"Reminds me of a tale I once heard as a young girl, when we had a particularly early and long winter."

"Would you tell us?" Serenity asked as she sipped her drink, feeling the immediate warmth spread over her tongue and down her throat, the hot creamy liquid weaving its way through her body.

"Are you serious?" Endymion snorted. "We're not going to sit here by the fire and tell fairytales and ghost stories now, are we? I think we're a little too old for Little Red Molly-hood and Melvin and the three bears."

Serenity kicked him under the blanket and he was silent. "Gran, I'm sure it's a lovely tale and we would really love to hear it."

"Oh you cheeky boy," she wagged her finger at him. "One day, you're going to be the death of me, Endymion darling!" She settled herself more comfortably in the armchair and smiled at her audience, a twinkle in her eye.


	5. The Story

**AN: **Thanks to Kaitlyn Fall for betaing :D And thanks to Railway Station for her epic, epic essay-length reviews (and everyone else for your awesome + kind words!).

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><p><strong>The Story<strong>

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><p>Though Endymion had first objected to the story, Gran managed to capture both teen's complete interest completely, hooking them with her tale about the mystery of winter, and how to be weary of particularly strong swirls of wind and snow, as it meant the Snow Queen was in flight.<p>

Whilst neither Endymion nor Serenity believed the story, they couldn't help but be drawn to it, and they listened intently, occasionally sipping their drinks, which were cooling fast. Before she could help it, Serenity whispered "What's she like?"

"Oh, Serenity," Gran shook her head with thin, grim lips. "The Snow Queen is one of the most terrible and fearsome beings in the world, they say. She only rides in the heart of the heaviest of storms. She exults in the fierce cold, she thrives in the icy winds, she loves freezing everything she passes over. It's like she's claiming her territory."

Serenity frowned. "But why does she travel? Why can't she just stay in her palace?"

"She's looking for something, but no one knows exactly what. When I was a little girl, my grandfather used to tell me she was looking for the coldest part of the land, somewhere to build a new palace, an even bigger and better one than before. But my grandmother used to tell me she was looking for someone, perhaps someone to share her heart with." She sank back into the cushioned chair and regarded her raptured audience with a twinkle in her eye. "Or maybe to _steal_ one from."

A heavy silence followed, the only sound coming from the crackling of the fire. Sometime during the story, the sun had set and darkness had followed swiftly on its heels. It seemed as if the whole world was listening.

Before the silence dragged on too long, Endymion barked a laugh. "Well," he said. "Even if I did believe that story, I wouldn't be afraid of her! Ha! As if you wouldn't just grab her and throw her in the nearest fireplace! That's what I'd do."

"Yes." Serenity rolled her eyes. "Well unfortunately we aren't allbrave like you, Endymion. What if she froze you to death with a look?"

"Kind of like Emeraldia at school?" Endymion teased.

And though Serenity tried not to, a laugh managed to escape her. "Oh I'm sure if she found some friends, she wouldn't be so scary!"

"That girl doesn't need any friends. She's got Sappy Sapphire tripping over himself to get close to her. When she's not tripping over herself to get to me that is." Endymion shuddered at the thought of their overly-lustful classmate.

"Yes, well at least Emeraldia can be detained by locked doors and windows." Gran smiled as she got to her feet and ambled into the kitchen. "Even the bravest of boys wouldn't be able to put up a fight against the Snow Queen. You best keep the windows shut tight and locked, and be careful she doesn't catch you!" She tapped Endymion's nose as passed, just as she used to when he was younger.

"Well it's a good thing she doesn't exist then," Endymion snorted as Serenity fell into deep thought. "Eh?"

At that moment, Serenity's mother poked her head through the back door of the kitchen, letting in a cold gust of air.

"Hi, Ethal," she said to Endymion's grandmother. "Time for dinner, darling," she said to Serenity. "You still have to open up your birthday present, too!"

Serenity squealed and launched off the couch, all deep thoughts forgotten. "Presents!" she said, clapping. Being as poor as she and her family were, presents were a rare occurrence indeed – only twice a year, birthdays and Christmas.

Serenity punched Endymion playfully on the arm as she left, receiving a tug on her scarf in return, and gave Gran a farewell kiss on her soft, wrinkly cheek. "Happy birthday, darling," Gran smiled, patting Serenity softly on the head. They were nearly the same height.

Serenity bundled her arms up close to her chest and scurried quickly between the houses, slamming her kitchen door shut behind her. "Brrrr!" she said loudly to alert her parents that yes, it was indeed quite cold. "It's getting far too freezing for this time of year! Where's my autumn gone?"

After grace was said and the family ate, Serenity was presented with her birthday gift. It was a small but very beautiful broach. It was a dull pink, with a silver gemstone in the middle, surrounded by several other coloured gems. Although the gems almost certainly weren't real, it had still probably cost her parents a lot of money.

"Oh thank you," the blonde gushed as she lunged for her parents and pulled them into a tight hug. "Thank you so much, I love it!"

"You take care of it," Serenity's father said. "It's supposed to have magical powers to keep you brave."

Serenity smiled at her father's joke and hugged him again. "Thanks mum, thanks dad," she said.

"We love you," her parents said together, even as a slight shadow fell over the family.

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><p>It was later that night, when Serenity was lying on her side in bed, toying with her broach, that she recalled her previous thoughts of that afternoon. She was lying in a pool of moonlight and stared out the icy window into the cold night.<p>

Gran's story had left her a little spooked (not that she'd ever tell Endymion!).

Maybe it wasn't so wise to dismiss a story like that, even if it wasn't real. Maybe she was just being superstitious, or even a little silly, but ever since she'd woken up, she'd had the constant feeling that something was coming. Something was going to happen soon.

Something big was going to happen.

Change was heading their way.

She yawned loudly, which echoed through the room, seemingly breaking the spell.

She was being silly. She was just having an off day and Gran's story had left her spooked. That was all. She had to stop thinking about it and erase the story of the Snow Queen from her mind. Hastily, she slipped the broach on the table, sitting it between her new locket and the photo frame and fell into a restless sleep in the pool of moonlight.

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><p><em>Has anyone here heardseen the new Disney Original Movie, Lemonade Mouth? I haven't seen it yet (NO SPOILERS! .) BUT I am currently obsessed with the soundtrack. It's too awesome. Listen to 'Determinate' and 'More than a Band' if you haven't. I **dare **you!_


	6. The Sign

**AN: **Hahahaha again, no I'm not dead. I was just very busy with school. And I had chapter 6 just sitting in my fanfic folder, beta'd and ready to be edited! I should not have kept those waiting. In fact, I'd completely forgotten about it until last night when Railway Station reminded me. Will write chapters 7 and 8 and perhaps 9 and 10 this weekend. In other news, how ugly is the new side toolbar of this website? I hate it! . A cruel greeting for me when I logged back in after after a month of inactivity.

Usual **disclaimer** applies.

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><p><strong>The Sign<strong>

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><p>Two weeks had passed since Serenity's birthday, and Serenity had far from forgotten the Snow Queen. The more she thought about her, the sillier she felt. "It's just a stupid story," she'd tell herself angrily every time she caught herself thinking about the mysterious witch-like woman. And without any proof of her suspicion that something terrible was heading their way, nothing to back her up, nothing to counter Endymion's: "You're just being silly, woman," other than the tugging in the back of her mind, the topic was never brought up.<p>

At present, she and Gran were baking cookies with a recipe of her mother's.

Endymion came down the stairs, wrapped up in his warmest clothes. The two females in the kitchen stopped their girlish giggling about potential suitors for Serenity and regarded the boy with mixed expressions. Gran held back a smile and Serenity stared unblinking at her best friend.

"Where are you going?" she asked, wondering why he was dressed as though he planned to cross the Arctic.

Endymion picked up Serenity's pink coat and matching scarf from the hook. "You want to go for a walk?" he asked.

The blonde scoffed. "No, I'm baking with Gran. Later, Endy."

But Endymion persisted. "It's going to snow all afternoon, so now would really be the best time. Come on, Gran can finish without you." When Serenity still wouldn't agree, he added, "Here, I'll make you a deal. If you let Gran finish making them, I'll help you guys finish eating them." He licked his lips and looked pointedly at the oven.

Gran tapped her spoon against the bowl and turned to Serenity. "You go dear, I'm almost finished."

"You always end up eating them all anyway," Serenity grumbled to Endymion, as she grudgingly wiped her hands on her apron. She swapped the apron for her coat and buttoned it all the way to the top before looping her scarf around her neck.

Once outside, Endymion turned right and led them through the town square. Serenity rolled her eyes at all the girls who flirtatiously greeted her friend and felt the great hurl to throw a snowball at something when she saw Emeraldia exiting a clothes shop. Serenity steered Endymion through a group of elderly gentleman who were remarking about the weather in loud voices, and managed to go unseen by Emeraldia, who luckily had begun shouting at Sapphire the one moment Serenity and Endymion had been exposed in the crowd. Serenity didn't want to spend the whole afternoon standing in the snow while Emeraldia stood there exclaiming how big Endymion's muscles had gotten, or else about a broach she'd gotten the day before. Serenity had already been there and done that.

They kept walking, arms linked and hands in pockets until they reached the lake. As little Kim had broken her leg on the ice, skating the day previous, it was fairly empty – the mothers were convinced it was _too _icy to be ice skating these days.

"Ha," Serenity said with a laugh, removing her hand from her coat pocket to point at the lonely rope and wood swing under the old oak tree. "Remember when you once pushed me so high I got hit in the face by those branches?"

She peeked a glance at her companion and saw him grin at the ground, revealing the dimple in his right cheek.

"This brings back memories," Serenity continued, staring around them at the frozen grounds. Though everything was blanketed in white, Serenity could remember everything exactly the way it had been. "We used to spend day after day after day here," she mused, thinking of the last time they'd been. It had probably been almost a year now. "I can't believe I'd forgotten about this place!"

"It'd be too crowded these days to bother," Endymion said, surveying the area with an arched brow. He began crunching through the snow towards the old oak tree.

"Still." Serenity pursed her lips. "It brings back a lot of memories." She glanced at Endymion.

"It sure does," he said without taking his eyes off the tree. Serenity jogged to keep up.

"So what did you want to talk about?" she puffed as she grabbed his arm and pulled back to force him to walk slower. "I assume it was to talk, because you _know_ how I feel about exercising. I don't do it. No excess walking if necessary for me. Nooo thank you! And if you've dragged me out here in the freezing cold..." Endymion just chuckled as she continued to babble on.

"Yeah, I wanted to talk Sere," he admitted.

"And – oh? Really? I mean, really! I knew that." She sat down on the creaky wood of the swing, testing its support before placing the rest of her weight on it. She looked up expectantly. "So what's up?"

Endymion shrugged as walked past her, causing her to turn in her seat.

"What-ack!" Serenity screeched as the swing immediately started to propel her forward. She grabbed wildly for the rope on either side of her to stop from falling through the back.

"Just like old times," Endymion said. Serenity scowled at his enjoyment.

"Yeah, just like old times" she grumbled, referring to her fright.

It was quiet once again, save for Serenity's giggles. A comfortable silence. Though they were too old for things like swings, Endymion continued to push Serenity, liking the familiarity it brought. They'd done a lot of it when they were younger, most particularly around the time Endymion's parents had died.

Endymion smiled at Serenity's out of control giggles, watching as her braid whipped in the wind. As his hands connected with her back to give her another push, something inside Endymion's chest moved. Like something in his heart had clicked into place. A sense of rightness – or completeness. He frowned. As he gave Serenity another push, he felt it again, almost recognising it. It was a strange feeling. It reminded Endymion of something, something he could quite grasp. Like when he caught a scent of Gran's cooking and he knew what it was but it wouldn't come to mind. Or when he was looking for a very specific piece of the puzzle that would reveal the whole picture. But what did that have to do with Serenity?

As Endymion began to reminisce long summers spent under this very oak tree, he thought he saw a flash of colour between the trees. A glint of deep red, waving in the wind...

Except that there was no wind.

His eyes returned to the swing just in time to push Serenity again, but snapped back to the spot where he thought he'd seen something, only there was nothing there. No red, no colour, no breeze – and yet, it did feel like it had dropped a few degrees. Raising an eyebrow, but deciding not to mention it, he started up the conversation again, interrupting Serenity mid-squeal.

"So" began Endymion in a bit of a huff, trying to rid his mind of that tugging sensation. He hated being unsure of things. Uncertainty didn't do well for him.

"So," Serenity laughed back, even as her braid wacked her in the face.

"So..."

"Soooooo."

"So."

"No, but my mother does." Serenity said.

They both laughed.

There it was again. That feeling.

Endymion ceased pushing the swing and waited for it to get slower and slower until Serenity was just swaying lightly on it. He plopped down by the roots of the tree. Serenity shuffled around on the swing to face him.

"So," she said quietly once both were still. Her words hung in the still air. It was as if they were the only two people on the planet, in the quiet fields

"Hmm," Endymion hummed absently, only having half-heard her. His heart was thrumming in his chest, as if waiting for him to realise something. "What about that story?" he asked casually, ignoring his erratic heartbeat. "The uh, _Snow Queen _wasn't it? Pretty stupid, eh?"

"Well, it was all right," Serenity said slowly. Was this it? The time to voice her suspicions? That story had her goosebumping at the very thought – and it wasn't because it was cold. It wasn't _real_.

Was it?

"It sure gave me the chills though. No pun intended."

Endymion laughed. "I suppose." He pretended to deliberate. "If you're that gullible, that is!" He ducked the stick that was thrown his way. "No, seriously Sere... Serious for a second here. You didn't find it odd or something? Not...familiar maybe?"

Serenity thought about it for a moment, before shaking her head. "No, I'd never heard anything like it before. Why?" She peered at him closer. "You don't believe it or anything do you?" She whipped her head back to throw the hair off her face; a wind had picked up.

"Me?" he scoffed. "Pfft, no!"

"Yeah, me neither." Serenity paused. "Hey is that what you wanted to talk about? Gran's story? Was that it? Did I guess right? Do I get a prize? Your coat perhaps? It's freezing."

Changing his mind, Endymion smiled and looked down, playing with the stick that had been thrown at his head. "No Sere, of course not. You know I don't believe in rubbish like that!"

"Oh," was all she said. After a minute of thinking, she asked, "So what _was_ it you wanted to talk about?"

"I just wanted you to go for a walk with me. Those thighs of yours are getting pretty pudgy you know!" He ducked as another stick was thrown his way. It bounced harmlessly off the tree.

"Hey! You're not so skinny yourself, Mister Fatty Boomba! And - oh look!" Serenity sighed, staring up at the sky as a smile crept on her face. "It's snowing!"

Endymion looked up and saw for himself the small white flakes raining down, mostly around the tree, but some making their way under the foliage too.

"Wow" he breathed. "How long has it been since we've sat here under the oak and watched it snow?"

Serenity hopped off the swing and crawled to sit beside her friend at the base of the oak. She shivered and hunched into her coat, eyes still focused happily on the flurry of white before them. "Remember when we used to spend all winter, every winter for like, four years, just walking around with magnifying glasses trying to find two of the same print?"

"Because no two snowflakes are ever the same!" they both chorused, before bursting into laughter. It felt good to laugh out in the open outdoors, like they could be as loud and happy as they wanted, and there was nothing to stop them.

They watched the snow drift down from the sky as the daylight slipped below the horizon.

"This is so nice" Serenity admitted, getting off the swing to sit with him. "It's snowing, and the sun is setting, and the colours are so beautiful. Aren't they just beautiful, Endy?"

"Yeah," he agreed, turning to stare at the twilight colours painted across the sky. "Gorgeous." The trees rustled around them as a strong wind blew past. Serenity sighed and leaned into his shoulder, before he lifted his arm and wrapped it around her. They sat there in silence watching until the very last of the sunset had faded, and night had very rapidly fallen, the full moon reflecting off the water's surface, before running home. The days were getting shorter and it wasn't safe to be out at dark anymore.


	7. The Shards

**AN: **Hello all! I am excited to bring you chapter 7, and have written 8 already. I have been on an obsessed-writing-binge the last three days, but today has topped it all. I am very keen to get back to my original now, so I'll quit rambling. Thank you to those who have reviewed - you are all so cute and kind! Thank you always to **Railway Station** for her chapter breakdowns via essay, and **Kaitlyn Fall** for being the best beta since... Hercules! YEAH!

Also, I was obsessively listening to _Switch _by Ashley Tisdale while I wrote this. I felt it was rather appropriate. But dun dun dun! HAPPY DRAMA READING!

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><p><strong>The Shards<strong>

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><p>Endymion had figured out what the feeling in his chest had been. Love. A feeling he hadn't experienced so wholly and overwhelmingly since his parents had been alive. That's why it had felt so familiar and yet strange.<p>

Endymion loved Serenity.

And why not? Serenity was everything he was not. Happy, optimistic and warm. Things he had once been, perhaps, or would have been like today, had the tragic deaths of his two best friends and closest family members not occurred. She brought laughter to his life. Every happy memory that could come to mind included Serenity in some way. And she was beautiful – both inside and out. Her long curtain of golden hair which tumbled down almost to her elbows. Her clear azure eyes that saw the world through rose-tinted glasses – like the world still held opportunity and love and happiness around every corner, no matter what it through at you. Even her hands fascinated him. They were so small and dainty and pale. The stark opposite of his.

He wondered what it would be like to hold them.

He wondered how long he had had these feelings for his best friend, no matter how deep in his subconscious.

He wondered if he should tell her.

_Soon_, he promised himself as he stared out the window into the night sky. It had stopped snowing moments after he'd arrived home, having traded in the flecks of ice for strong sheets of wind instead. He could hear the howling of the angry gales, even if he could see nothing through the darkness. _When the right moment arises. _

A horrible thought struck him.

What if she didn't feel the same way? What if Serenity just wanted to remain friends? She'd already gone through too much – they both had. They couldn't stand to lose each other. Not now. Not anymore.

He would just have to wait and see.

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><p>Endymion awoke to a cold slap to his face. He started in bed, before realising he wasn't on the receiving end of someone's fury, but a frightfully frigid gust of wind. His bedroom window banged open and shut against its frame. Perhaps he hadn't locked it properly the night before, and the strong wind had been enough to force it back open.<p>

He quickly stood up and padded his way across the room, slamming the small window closed and latching it firmly. He shivered and crossed his arms. He hated winter. Spring was more his thing. When his and Serenity's flowers would bloom. Spring was warmth and revival and renewal.

As he dressed, grabbing as many layers as he could, he pondered what could be done that day. He supposed he could go into town, see if the blacksmith needed any help. Or Serenity's parents, the town bakers. Anywhere where he could be near a large, blazing fire or toasty oven was fine by him, no matter what the work. Unless it was chopping wood for said fires or ovens outside.

"Endy!"

Endymion didn't need to recognise the voice to know who it was. His entire body had sung in response. His blood seemed to turn to pure adrenaline, and he could feel his heart skip in his chest before thrumming a rapid rhythm.

Strangely enough, now that he was aware of his feelings for her, Endymion was a little nervous to be around Serenity. He felt both like a spooked horse and an excited puppy.

"Endy!" Serenity called again from downstairs. "If you are still sleeping, I will come up there and wake you in the rudest way I can think of!"

Endymion's lips quirked up at the thought, and he hurried on his black long sleeve.

"All right, all right," he said as he jogged down the stairs. "Keep your skirt on."

"You were keeping me waiting," the blonde sniffed.

"My humble apologies, your Highness." He gave a low bow, generating guffaws from his companion.

"You promised you would come help out at the orphanage with me today." At his stumped expression, Serenity prompted, "Last week? When I said I was going to help them with their costumes for the play?" Endymion continued to stare blankly. "You said you would come and help with the set? Carry the heavy stuff and whatnot? Was that not a suggestion of _yours_?"

"Oh," he said when it finally clicked in, staring unseeingly at the wall as he tried to recall the memory. "That was the day Emeraldia was playing with my biceps, right? Yeah, alright. Let me get my coat."

Serenity's scowl went unseen as he reached past her for his scarf and coat. Scribbling a note for Gran, Endymion held open the door and they both ducked through, braving the wind with hunched shoulders and beginning to journey through the town.

"Where did this wind come from?" Serenity complained as she felt her braid literally suspended in the air behind her. "It's like one extreme to the next these days. Yesterday I was sure the house would be snowed in before I got there!"

Endymion glanced up to ensure they were still heading in the right direction and that their downcast eyes had not led them wayward, when something sharp flew into his right eye. He stopped walking and cried out, immediately rubbing it to relieve the stinging, but it was no use.

"Endy?"

"God this hurts so much but I can't feel anything in there!" Endymion groaned as he kneaded his eye. "Something just flew into my eye."

"I'm not surprised," Serenity commented dryly, glaring at the wind. She moved closer. "Here, let me take a look."

She inched as close as she could and peered into his eye, using her body as a shield against the wind, but she could see nothing..

"I don't see anything," Serenity murmured sympathetically, laying a hand on Endymion's chest and giving him a slight pat. "Perhaps if you blink enough, you can get it out." She shifted slightly, and that was all it took for the wind to divert around her. Endymion grumpily opened his mouth to reply, when all of a sudden he began coughing.

Serenity blinked as Endymion's coughing fit quickly escalated and she began to fear he was having trouble breathing. It eventually subsided, though Endymion continued to swallow repeatedly, as if he'd swallowed something unpleasant and it had lodged in his throat.

"Endy?" she asked slowly, eyeing him warily. "Endy, are you okay? Did you swallow something?"

"What do you think?" he snapped at her. "I just started coughing because it's _fun_? Because I want to spend as much time as possible in this God-awful hurricane? Jesus, Serenity. Think a little."

Serenity snapped her mouth shut. "I'm sorry," she apologised quietly a moment later. "You're right, that was dumb."

Endymion gave an unimpressed hmph.

"Let's-let's get out of here, shall we?" Serenity tried. "Get out of this weather and into the warmth of the orphanage. Maybe that would make you feel better."

"The orphanage is no warmer than being out here," Endymion objected with a sneer.

"Endymion?" Serenity had no idea what was wrong with her friend, but she felt like she was rapidly losing control of something.

"So what exactly am I doing at the orphanage?" asked Endymion as he continued walking. "Lifting stuff? Don't they have matrons there or something?"

Serenity stayed frozen where she stood. "Endymion, what's the matter? Why are you so upset all of a sudden?"

"Because for some reason," Endymion stopped and turned to glare at Serenity. "I'm going to spend my day in a freezing building with no fireplace or heating system, carrying beams of wood or little plastic chairs or maybe even crying, winging little children, when I could have been working somewhere warmer and actually doing good."

"You are doing good," Serenity argued, a hint of anger beginning to colour her tone. "You're helping them put on a play for their fundraiser. You offered to help last week – I didn't ask you to do this!"

"Yeah, right," Endymion spat. "We both know that when I offer something, it's only because you've pushed me into doing it in the first place. It's what you do, Serenity. You _push_."

Serenity felt like she'd been slapped. Not only was he looking at her like he wanted nothing more to do with her, his unexpected mood swing was frightening her, and he'd called her Serenity. Twice. He hadn't done that in years. And never in all their years of friendship had she heard the tone he was using now.

It was like she wasn't even talking to Endymion.

Tears stung her eyes, the pain intensifying due to the icy winds blowing into them. "Then don't go!" she yelled at him. "Go home! See if I care!"

Endymion stormed past her. "Gladly. See you when you rework your attitude!"

Serenity stood there on the deserted path for a long time, staring wide-eyed at Endymion's retreating back, even after he'd gone. Her heart wouldn't stop beating ferociously in her chest, and she was close to hyperventilating.

"What just happened?" she whimpered in the howling wind.

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><p><em>Oooooh, it has happened! The slivers of Wise Man's mirror! What will happen to our Endy and Sere-bear? Also, I just love how appropriate Switch is for this chapter. Here are some lyrics from the chorus. Because I can copy and paste like a pro!<em>

_Hey,_  
><em>So strange - you switched in front of me<em>  
><em>Hey,<em>  
><em>You've changed - not like you used to be . .<br>__'Cause you get in my head and hold my heart _  
><em>When I'm here, you're there - we're worlds apart<em>  
><em>So reverse your words - go to the start <em>  
><em>And switch back, to my world . . .<em>  
><em>Hey,<em>  
><em>You're just - talking like a machine<em>  
><em>Hey,<em>  
><em>I'm stuck - on every word in between . . .<em>

_Anyhoo, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. It was a lot of fun to write! Reviews are lovely of course *eyes slide to the big happy Review button*_

_Also, if anyone wants to have a crack at what Sailor Moon references I used in this (or any other) chapter, go right ahead! I will give you the easy one - in Season 5, a shard of Nehelania's mirror got into Mamoru's eye! :O _


	8. The Kidnapping

**AN: **Hello lovely people. Below is the latest chapter of course. Things are starting to get cooking! I love the drama. You must all thank Kaitlyn Fall for her quick and awesome beta-ing. Yes. Even you at the back! Well. Enjoy! Don't forget to review and favourite or alert to stay updated. Happy reading.

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><p><strong>The Kidnapping<strong>

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><p>Over the next few weeks, the relationship between Serenity and Endymion steadily grew strained. Every time Serenity tried to talk to him about his feelings, telling him that he should open up to her, he'd turned volatile. The last conversation had ended with a furious yell of "How could I have ever thought you were beautiful?" as he'd marched out and slammed the door.<p>

And it wasn't just her that was suffering. Gran had told her of his moody silences and sharp retorts whenever she tried to talk to him to find out what was bothering him. It was if he was a completely different person, she said, not her grandson.

Serenity had hoped that the sight of something he loved, something that made him happy, would snap him out of this spell he was under. When spring had come, she'd taken him to see the roses. He'd only kicked the pots over and snorted, "Who needs flowers? They're useless and a waste of time. Why don't you find something better to do, Serenity, like I have. Go learn how to cook or something." Hurt by his words, Serenity could only watch as he stormed out, like he had many times before. It seemed as if their friendship had been permanently severed.

Months passed, and Endymion and Serenity grew so distant, Serenity was lucky to catch his eye even once a day. He had also found himself new friends, friends Serenity didn't like. She expressed her fears every night as she kneeled by her bed and prayed, comforted by the dark that blanketed her, as if her private fears could not be uncovered at night. Endymion's new friends were older, and a rougher crowd, and Serenity was puzzled as to how he could be hanging out with them. He'd told her himself he thought they were nothing but jerks, and warned her to stay away from them.

Too bad he couldn't have taken his own advice.

She cried a lot. She missed Endymion. She wanted her friend back. And she hated the depression she'd sunk into. The last time she'd been like this, it had only been Endymion who had been able to bring her out of it – with the gift of a rose and a gentle, "Are you okay, little girl?" It had been the start of their friendship all those years ago.

Who was going to be her Endymion this time around?

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><p>Winter had arrived once more. Serenity couldn't remember the last time they'd spoken. Probably since the day he'd said she had greasy and thin hair. That had not been a good day. She was comforted only by the fact that she had learned to watch Endy from afar – as long as he didn't see her, and as long as she squashed the heartache that would well up in her chest while watching him, she could almost feel happy. Or at least mildly content, which was as happy as she got these days.<p>

She was currently sitting on the ledge under the window in the bookshop. It had become her refuge after the blistering weather outside dived another few degrees. She could see Endy and his new friends pointing to her parent's bakery across the square and discussing something very seriously. One of them was throwing and catching a large rock in one hand. She put down her book slowly and peered closer to the window, peeking out from the curtain.

The five boys now had each found a decent sized rock and were laughing – all but Endymion.

Serenity watched as the leader – or co-leader, as Endymion seemed to have climbed his way to the top in the group as well – yelled out something, that suspiciously sounded like "FIRE!" through the glass, and before she realised what was happening, the boys all threw their rocks at the shop window. The sound of the glass smashing echoed in her head, her breath hitched and her body froze in its place. Her family's shop had just been _attacked_.

The group broke up and immediately ran in different directions, before anybody could find a culprit.

Something unpleasant began to fill up inside Serenity. She didn't know if it was fear or anger or grief or shock, but it was powerful. She hastily returned the book to its shelf, bid a quick goodbye to the shop owner and flew out the door and into the square, before taking off into the direction she'd seen Endymion flee.

Enough was enough.

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><p>Endymion leaned against a tree, clutching his chest as his heart began painfully contracting. He groaned as the agony intensified, before a whinnying caught his attention. He looked up to see a large white horse standing not ten feet away from him, attached to a beautiful sled which looked as if it had been made entirely of ice. A flash of red in his peripheral turned Endymion's attention to the occupant in the sled.<p>

A woman with long, flaming hair and pale, pale white skin sat watching him, calculating. The moment his cobalt eyes met her violet ones, he felt something in him lock. Like his whole body was frozen and he was under her control. A spell by her beauty. And she _was_ beautiful. Unlike Serenity. He struggled to breathe. She was perfect. Everything a woman should be.

The woman extracted a slim hand from under the heavy blanket of fur and extended it to him. "Come with me," she said, her voice like a breath on the wind. "You are perfect."

Endymion was no fool; he would not need to be told twice. A grin quirked at his lips as he felt a shift in his emotions, like his luck was finally turning around. This woman could bring him happiness as he'd never imagined!

He clasped her hand and stepped up into the sled, tucking himself under the fur blanket and turning to face his new companion. Though her lips hadn't moved, and her expression remained speculative, he felt as if she was smiling. And that made him smile.

"Let's go," she said softly to the horse, who immediately began to trot. The sled swiftly began to glide, as if the ground below were made of nothing but air. If Endymion had not been so transfixed with the woman who now was rubbing her thumb along his hand, he would have noticed the rapid change in scenery again and again. They covered the lake, breaking the icy layer on top as if it were nothing more than butter, through the dense forest, up a frozen riverbed, over the steep hills near the mountains. They were journeying to far and distant lands. What Endymion did notice however, was the chill that came with travelling so fast. His body gave an involuntary shiver, despite the fur blanket. It seemed as if the woman's body held no warmth. She made a sympathetic noise and leaned over and kissed him, just on the jawline. Immediately, his shivering stopped and he was no longer cold. He smiled at the Snow Queen through blue-tinted lips.

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><p>Serenity leant against a tree, bent over double and gasping for breath. She had seen Endy come this way, she knew it. The faint sound of a horse whinnying in the distance made her jerk back up, but she could see nothing, and hear no one. Endymion was not there.<p> 


	9. The Plan

**AN: **Well, I'm not dead. Although my several-month-long-absence can be perfectly acceptable excuse if you thought I was. No, I was finishing school, which alas, I have now done. So, I've been working hard on Ice! I have written about 16k of this story in the past three days alone, and am now about to start chapter 17. I'm really happy with it. Oh yeah - should probably mention it's one of my NaNoWriMo projects. If you haven't heard of NaNo, I seriously recommend you google it. If you have, then you understand I'm saying this in order to impress you! 50k is devoted to fanfic and another 50k will be dedicated to my original novel(s, depending on how fast I work). That's right, in 30 days I am determined to write 100, 000 words. And it all benefits you!... Most of it. If original novel ever gets published. But enough rambling.

Many hugs, kisses and thanks are hurled at the lovely and awesome **Kaitlyn Fall** for betaing. As NaNo is about work counts and not quality, projects are often rushed and/or riddled with countless easy errors. It'd hurt your eyes to look at them. But thankfully Kaitlyn Fall is your sheild to these errors! She deletes, highlights and inserts words that would otherwise send your brain into overdrive at my silly mistakes. Be sure to smile gratefully at her if you pass each other in the street!

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><p><em>Three years later...<em>

Serenity stared out sadly from her bedroom window. It was her eighteenth birthday; it was supposed to be a joyous day with celebrations of finally stepping into the heavy and exciting shoes of adulthood. But she had no one to share it with. Not without...

Serenity should have been used to it by now. Either used to losing people, or at least to the loss of one. Endymion. The memory of his dark eyes, his all-knowing smirk, and the way his hair used to fall over his eyes at just that angle that infuriated her because she claimed it made him look ridiculous, which was all the more incentive for him to keep it long.

Losing a best friend is like losing a sibling. And it's like a permanent hole has been created in your chest. A feeling that Serenity knew only too well, having lived far too many years with that hole. And there's rarely a chance to fix it.

"Serenity, are you awake darling?"

The sky timidly peeked out from behind the clouds, beginning its morning painting of colours with the streak of purple that signified it was soon time for daylight. Serenity stared hard at that line, willing it to go back under the line of the horizon. She could always think better when it was dark. Dark was honest, there were never any pretences, nothing that could promise her that Endymion would come back, nothing to soothe her pain other than the knowledge that if Endymion was coming back, it'd be because of her.

"Serenity darling?"

Not that if he could have come back he would have. She knew that right to the bottom of her heart. No matter what their relationship had ended on, she knew Endymion would not have kept her in this permanent state of worry for so long. Where he was, he _couldn't _come back. And so it was up to her to go get him.

"Serenity!" The blonde jumped as the voice sounded right behind her. She turned her head from the window, drawing the curtain closed over it to shroud her room in darkness from the rising sun. "Yes mother?"

"It's time for work," her mother reprimanded as she ushered the girl to the chest of drawers. "You need to get dressed and have breakfast! Do hurry."

Serenity reached for her clothes, dressing in melancholy and without thought. She washed her face in the bowl of water and styled her hair, well used to the hairstyle that required little focus or attention. She'd learned it three years ago when she'd been frustrated with Endymion's absence and desperately needed something to take her mind off it. But with repeated stylings, what was once a difficult job was now nothing more than a practiced and eased skill of two buns with a ponytail through the middle. It kept her hair out of her face and made use of its length - she refused to cut it, though she didn't know why.

She trudged down the stairs, resigning herself to another day helping in her parent's bakery, where her father was surely already baking the first batch of breads and mixing the second batch of dough. But if it was up to her, she wouldn't be in the bakery. She'd be out looking for her friend. Her best friend.

"Surprise!"

Serenity blinked at the sudden warm light jolting her vision. As her eyes adjusted to the candle light, she realised she was looking at a small pink birthday cake, surrounded by her mother, her father and Endymion's grandmother.

"I know it's not very nutritious," her father said, "but dig in because I've got Joseph looking after the shop until quarter to seven so we have time for a quick breakfast of cake!" His over-enthusiasm was not new. Her parents had been trying to keep her afloat, so deep was her depression. Endymion had originally been the plughole to the first flood of pain, but with him gone, it had become bigger and bigger until she was threatened with total submersion.

And she in turn tried her best to look after Endymion's grandmother, making sure she had companionship and someone to cook for or talk to. But they were both poor company, so conversations were often short and few.

Serenity pretended to eat her cake with as much enthusiasm as a girl her age should have displayed, but inside she was thinking. Motivating. Deciding.

Every day she worked in the bakery that past summer, she had been in perfect view of the lake through the back window of the store room. And often she dreamed of just jumping in and swimming until she met the river, which could take her far away. But she realised she was being insane. Rivers can take you anywhere – not necessarily where you want to go.

Who's to say Endymion was even in that direction? He could have been anywhere. The forests of the north, the seas of the south, the mountains of the west, anywhere. Because whilst Serenity knew with all the certainty of her soul that he was alive, she couldn't know where in the world he was.

She decided today was going to be the day. She wouldn't wait any longer. If Endymion would not come to her, then she would go and get him. And there'd be hell to pay for making her wait so long.

"This is delicious," she told her father as she scraped the last of her cake off the plate. She picked up a stalk of grapes and kissed Endymion's grandmother on the cheek. "I'm going to grab something quickly from my room and head off and meet Joseph early."

Her parents stared at her. "You're going to the shop early?" the asked in unison, similar expressions of surprise on their face.

"Must be this new adult thing called maturity and responsibility," Serenity called down as she climbed the stairs. "It's weird, isn't it?"

Suddenly, Serenity felt alive. Alive like she hadn't in three years. She was going to see Endymion again. If it took everything she had, she was going to bring him home. She was almost deranged with her excitement. She dropped to her stomach and reached under her bed, grappling for the bag she kept right at the back. It was covered in dust but she managed to shake it all off, sneezing several times. She glanced around her room at her few possessions. She wouldn't need to take much, but she also knew some of her possessions would come in handy when her morale got low or she found herself needing reminders as to why she was taking her journey.

"Alright mum, dad, I'm going!" she called as she descended the stairs and waved to her parents. She gave Gran a heavy kiss on the cheek. "Goodbye Gran," she whispered, smiling at the old woman.

"Have a lovely day Serenity," she said. "You be a good girl and don't get yourself into any trouble."

"Trouble?" Serenity scoffed. "Gran, what kind of trouble could I get myself into?"

"That Gerald boy for starters," the old woman replied. "Always pestering you, always following you around."

"Oh Gran," Serenity said affectionately, patting the old woman's head. "I can handle him." To her parents, she said: "All right, I'll meet Joseph. You have a cup of tea before you take off if you want to."

Serenity stumbled her way backwards out the door, grinning at her bewildered parents and Endymion's grandmother, who were all stunned at the sudden change in the young woman's attitude.

Serenity then raced through the town, taking every shortcut she knew that would keep her away from prying eyes before slipping through the back door of the bakery. She could hear Joseph working the oven in the front and knew she would only get away with her plan if he was loading. If he was unloading, she was sure to get caught.

She stuck her head around the corner. He was loading! His back would be turned for at least a minute and a half, if not more. The oven door was starting to lose its stick, so one had to constantly keep an eye and ready hand on it when putting the bread in, in case it decided it wanted to slam shut on your hands, both burning and breaking them. It was a temperamental like that.

Serenity ducked to her knees and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, ready to make the dash that would determine her journey, when the bell at the door jingled. She froze. Were her parents here already? No – they would have used the back door like her. So who was arriving now? It was just past six thirty. Few people in her sleepy town would even be awake yet.

She heard a deep voice clear its throat. Her breath stopped. Was it Gerald? Surely not. She risked a peek around the corner.

"Is Serenity here?" the deep voice boomed in the small, warm space.

"She's not in just yet," Joseph said, pausing from his oven work. "She won't be in for almost another hour."

Gerald growled a low and guttural growl. "You're lying to me."

"I'm not," Joseph cried. "Really, she won't be in until her father arrives. It's her birthday today so they've put me on baking until 7."

"It's her birthday, yes; I remember hearing about that from Mrs Maser around the church. Eighteen, right?" He chuckled in his deep voice. "A legal adult. This should make things much easier."

"Please," Joseph now sounded nervous. Serenity felt awful that he had to deal with the incorrigible Gerald all on his seemingly-so-own. But she wouldn't give up her position. Joseph just had to take one for the team. "Please, she's not here. Could you go now? If you aren't going to buy something, I'd really like to get back to work."

"I'll leave when I'm ready to," Gerald snapped back. Serenity poked another look around the corner in time to see him swipe a baguette from the counter.

"Hey!" Joseph cried.

"For my troubles," the man spat. "For having to waste my time with you." And then he left in a huff.

Joseph let out a loud sigh of relief and Serenity felt another pang of guilt. Poor Joseph. Even she had trouble putting up with the man, and he was apparently in love with her. But Joseph was a sensitive one.

She snuck another look around the corner. He was putting his oven mitts back on and returning to the uncooked bread. When his back was turned and he was wrestling the door open, she tiptoed to the counter and snuck two loaves of bread and a baguette from the racks. As Serenity turned to make her escape, her shoe scuffed on the floor, emitting an obvious noise. Luckily Joseph made a grunt of effort at the same time as he fighting to keep the door open long enough for him to protract his hand, so he didn't turn. Serenity slipped back out through the storeroom and out the backdoor, only stopping to stuff the food into her bag before slinging it over her shoulder and heading for the lake.

When she got to the lake, the sun had risen, casting its bright rays on the sparkling water. Everything was so calm and peaceful that a normal person would have enjoyed it for what it was – a beautiful summer's morning. But Serenity didn't care. The weather was merely superficial compared to the impossible journey she had ahead of her.

She followed alongside the lake, heading further and further away from her town until she came to the mouth of the river. She was surprised to find a boat tied to the stump of an old tree. She discreetly checked over her shoulders in case anyone should be watching, but there was no one around and besides, this boat looked abandoned. If it did belong to anyone, she was doing the boat a favour by removing it from their neglectful hands.

She stepped forward and began untying the rope when a dark figure fell across her vision.

"Gerald!" she gasped in shock, clutching at her heart with one hand whilst tightening her grip on the rope with her other. "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you of course," he replied smoothly, simpering down at her.

"How'd you know I'd be here?"

"I followed you." He grinned wolfishly down at her, revealing his rather pointy eye teeth. "I knew that idiot boy was lying to me."

"He wasn't," Serenity said, before realising her mistake. "I mean, he probably said I wasn't at the shop, right? I wasn't because I was coming in late."

"So what are you doing here then? If you were going to be late to work. I was hoping to see you, you know." He leaned a hand on the trunk of a close tree.

"You were?" Serenity felt a lump in the back of her throat, but she wanted to keep him talking.

"Oh yeah," he swayed closer. "I hear it's your birthday today. Have you heard of the tradition of birthday kisses?"

"No, I haven't," she replied, trying not to step back however much she felt compelled to. She worked harder at untying the rope with just one hand as subtly as possible. "Are you sure it's a tradition then? If some people haven't heard of it, it can't be all that traditional."

"It's traditional all right," Gerald said in a low, quiet voice, swaying closer yet to Serenity who was stuck in her place, watching Gerald's slow smile from under her eyelashes.

"Well I guess you learn something new every day!" Serenity smiled brightly. "But I'm not really supposed to be here right now so we should probably get going..."

"Fate is the reason you're here right now. You and me together. Here in this quiet, private area, away from prying eyes and judging tongues. Nothing we do here means anything. No one can see us."

"God can see us," Serenity pointed out, glancing at the skies.

"He understands," Gerald whispered swaying even closer to Serenity. By now their chests were almost touching. Serenity had undone the first knot and only had two more to go.

"Understands what?" she asked before her mouth was captured by Gerald's. His hungry lips sought hers as he closed the gap between their bodies, pushing her against the tree. Serenity had to stretch to keep her grip on the rope; it was getting too far now.

Two knots undone...

Gerald paused for air and Serenity smiled shyly up at him. "Oh, is that what he understands?" she asked coyly.

"Yeah," Gerald breathed onto Serenity's face, much to her disgust. Had he not brushed his teeth this morning?

"Well," she said, smile broadening. "We'd better give him more to understand." And she stood on her tip toes and kissed Gerald, who, surprised by the bold move, took several seconds to respond.

Third knot undone. Serenity let the rope drop from her hand and reached inside her bag. Her hands closed around a small, hard, rock-like object. She felt a surge of bravery up her arm and so without thinking, brought it crashing down on Gerald's head. He dropped to the ground, unconscious.

Serenity ran for the boat and jumped in, her inertia causing the boat to propel forward a bit. But when it became apparent that the small wooden boat contained no oars or paddles, her heart sank. The river was going so slow! She'd never make it far enough to anywhere now.

She looked down at the object in her hand. It was the broach her parents had given her for her fifteenth birthday. It was much cherished of course, but she knew that between the broach and the chance to find Endymion, she'd choose the latter.

The blonde brought the locket up to her chest and covered it with both hands, praying to any god who could hear her. She promised that she would sacrifice her broach, which made her feel strong and brave even now as she held it, to the earth if it could help her find her best friend. She kissed the broach for luck and threw it as far as she could into the waters.

Serenity sat in stillness for almost a whole minute until her wish was granted. She heard the familiar whistle of a fast approaching wind, watched as the waters of the river became choppier and began to rush faster, felt her hair lift on the thin arms of the breeze. And her small wooden boat began to glide, quickly and smoothly down the river, fast enough that Serenity was confident she would cover quite some ground that day but not fast enough to frighten her.

Serenity glanced back at the still crumpled figure of Gerald. Whilst it was frustrating that he'd thrown her 'sneak out unnoticed' out the window by following and surprising her like that, she knew that he'd probably keep it a secret anyway, so lest not to let it be known he had been rendered unconscious so easily and by a young woman. Gerald's pride wouldn't stand for that. So the town would probably have no idea where and when she'd gone, which suited her just fine. She'd vanish like Endymion, find him, and bring him back. And no search party could catch her, for they didn't know which direction she'd gone.


	10. The Enchantress

**AN: **I told myself I would only upload a chapter a week but it looks like I'm going to break that little self-promise! As of tonight, I have written 23k for this story in the past 8 days. I am so close to being a quarter of the way done with my goal of 100k for NaNo. Remember, coz I'm insane? Haha. I don't let myself forget it, so I have to tell anyone and everyone I see that 'I'm doing 100k for NaNo and clearly I'm insane.' So yes.

Snaps and claps and happy shnapps (butterscotch flavour, mmm!) for the awesome Kaitlyn Fall for betaing. Sentences tend to make a whole lot more sense when she prods them with her magic editing fingers. I must have stumpy fingers with no magic whatsoever hahaha just enthusiasm!

Don't own anything, none of the characters or the idea for the story but I do own the right to write my little ANs I believe.

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><p><strong>The Enchantress<strong>

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><p>Serenity spent most of the day in that small, wooden boat. The river's current took her downstream at a steady pace and she watched in wonder all the beautiful things she passed. She saw grassy meadows with cows and sheep, and willow trees that dipped their tangled roots into the water's edge like a toddler would with their toes. Eventually with the sun's relentless warming rays and some of the bread settled in her stomach and the water rocking her boat like a cradle, Serenity's senses were lulled into a relaxed state, and she soon fell asleep. As she slept, the boat continued to carry on the river.<p>

Serenity awoke with a start as the boat jerked to the left, breaking its soothing rhythm. She saw it had avoided a wooden dock that lead up to a matching wooden gate, which bordered a picturesque little cottage. Serenity inhaled deeply at the fragrance of all the beautiful flowers that spilled out over the fence as if beckoning her to tend to them. She grabbed the rope at her feet and tethered it so she could lasso it to the dock. The boat jerked to the left again, taking her further away from the house. Serenity did not realise that the boat was trying to keep her from the cottage.

She threw the rope and it missed, but she was able to catch one of the mooring posts on her second attempt. She pulled the boat closer to the dock. The boat rocked and struggled, as if trying to get away, and just as the rope snapped, Serenity jumped, landing waist deep in the water. She threw her bag onto the shore to keep it dry and waded up to the dock, climbing on to it and lying on her stomach for several moments to regain her energy.

"Are you all right?" a female's voice said from over the gate. Serenity looked up to see a young woman smiling down on her. She wore a large brim hat, a soil covered apron, and gardening gloves. Her freckled face broke out into a smile. "You look weary, come in for a drink and some cookies." She opened the gate and Serenity got to her feet.

"Thank you, that sounds lovely," she said, following the woman into the garden and closing the gate behind her. A wave of energy rippled over the gate as it was closed but Serenity did not see this.

"So you have been travelling?" the woman asked as she took off her gloves and tucked them into her apron pocket. She removed her hat and apron and hung them on hooks by the door. "Tell me, what adventure are you off to?" They stepped into the cool shade of the cottage's kitchen.

"I'm looking for a friend," Serenity said as she seated herself at a small round table. The woman smiled and placed a plate of still-warm cookies before her. They smelled delicious.

"Oh? And is this friend a boy friend?" The woman had a knowing look to her eye as she surveyed her young guest.

"Yes. My best friend. His name is Endymion and he disappeared from our home three years ago in the winter. I'm looking for him so I can bring him back home where he belongs."

"That's very sweet of you," the woman said in a sympathetic voice before shaking her head as if she'd just realised something. "Oh! My name's Lita by the way. It's nice to meet you...?"

"Serenity," the blonde replied. She looked around the kitchen for any sign of another person, but all the kitchen revealed was that someone who lived here liked to keep things neat and tidy. Everything was gleaming clean and in its place. "Are you here with somebody else?"

Lita shook her head. "It's just me I'm afraid. My parents died some years ago and left me only this cottage and the family cow. But I've made it work for myself. I sell flowers and have traded well enough over the years to provide more than enough for myself."

"That's awful," Serenity said. "I'm so sorry to hear that. Living all by yourself must be terribly lonely." She looked carefully at Lita and decided she could not be more than only a few years older than herself.

"This is my cottage of cooking and gardening. I am surrounded by my two loves. What is there to be sad about?" She sighed. "But you are right, it does get lonely."

Serenity reached out and grasped Lita's hand in both of her own. "When I return home with Endymion, we will visit you. And maybe you would like to come home with us. You shouldn't live so out of the way by yourself. Surely it's not safe."

"That's very kind of you," Lita said. "But I can protect myself." Her eyes fell on the plate of cookies. "Eat, eat, girl! You look positively famished. How do you expect to find your Endymion if you look like you're going to collapse from hunger any second?"

Serenity grinned toothily at her and reached for a cookie, shivering as she did so. Lita jumped to her feet. "I'll get you a towel," she said. "You wait right here."

Serenity bit into the cookie and felt its soft texture melt on her tongue. She closed her eyes in delight and marvelled at the taste of heaven that was in her mouth.

And watching from a crack in the doorway was Lita, spying as her new guest let down her guard. She raised her hands and whispered,

_Memory fast and memory quick, _

_soon this girl's resolve will stick. _

_Keep her here and make her mine, _

_a slave forever stuck in time._

Faint green light swirled from her fingertips, passing through the crack in the door and floating towards its unassuming victim. Just as Serenity reached for her glass of milk, she felt a tingling sensation up her spine. She gasped, knocking over the glass and sending it crashing on the floor.

"Here is your towel," Lita said as she returned. "Oh, are you all right?"

"I'm so sorry," Serenity said as she looked down at the mess. "I'll clean it up; just show me where I can find a mop."

"Don't worry about it," Lita smiled. "It was my fault for placing it so close to the edge."

Serenity felt a wave of gratitude. "You're so kind."

"That's what friends are for, aren't they?" Serenity felt another wave of gratitude, this time mixed with excitement. Lita thought she was her friend? Really?

"Your hair is beautiful," Lita said as she wiped up the milk and broken glass. "It's so long and shiny. How do you keep it so healthy?"

"I don't know," Serenity said honestly, saddened that she couldn't give Lita a more definite answer. "It's just like this."

"It's an unusual style," Lita noted, tilting her head. "Did you come up with it?"

Serenity nodded. "Yes, to take my mind off Endymion."

Lita smiled and picked up a comb – which unbeknown to Serenity, was enchanted to lull the user into such a relaxed state, they couldn't help but tell the truth – and asked "May I?" to which Serenity nodded. "So tell me about Endymion," she said as she stroked the comb smoothly through the long blonde hair. "What was he like? And how do you even know where to find him?"

And so Serenity began to spill her secrets. Encouraged by Lita's appropriately timed gasps of shock, dismay and even occasional laughter, she told her about how they grew up together, their love of roses, his sudden change in demeanour and his even more sudden disappearance.

"I tried to chase after him and make him see reason, but I couldn't find him." Serenity sniffled. "He was gone and I didn't know how to find him."

Lita made a sad noise. "That's so heartbreaking." She stopped combing and handed the younger girl a tissue. "You look tired. Why don't you have a nap and I'll see about cooking us up something wonderful for dinner."

"I can stay for dinner?" Serenity's eyes lighted up with hope even as they looked drugged with sleep.

"Of course," Lita said. "That's what friends are for, aren't they?" And she showed Serenity to the spare bedroom and let the young girl sleep. Once she was certain her guest was otherwise occupied, she marched back out to the garden, right into the centre where her beloved roses grew. With a wave of her hand and a hiss of her tongue, she sent the red blooms back under the earth to hide from Serenity's eyes. "I can't have you breaking my spell now, can I?" Lita said to the now bare soil. "That wouldn't do at all."

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><p>Shorter chapter than last, but I promise they get longer again lol. Am currently finishing up chapter 19 and still have tons to go, so feel free to stick around coz this story is going to be <em>long<em>. Also, reviews make me giggly and happy!


	11. The Rose

**AN:** Am now up to chapter 23 and the end is in sight! I reckon this'll be around 30 chapters long, so I'm very pleased with my progress. This is a really fun fic to write and I love hearing that you're enjoying it too (okay, some of the reviews make me giggle and bat at the laptop. Praise goes to my head. What of it?). I give my thanks to the epic Kaitlyn Fall for betaing. You should all worship her at her feet. Just kidding. If you're going to worship anyone, let it be me. I like jam doughnuts and vanilla coke. And back massages. Kthanxbai.

**Disclaimer:** Own nothing, yo.

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><p><strong>The Rose<strong>

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><p>Serenity pulled a loaf of fresh, steaming bread from the oven, inhaling deeply and smiling in satisfaction. A tiny nagging feeling in the back of her head told her that this was familiar but she couldn't for the life of her figure out why. She'd never baked bread before. She'd never cooked anything in her life. What life she could remember.<p>

For she'd been at Lita's cottage for several weeks, the enchantment casting a foggy haze over her memories any time she tried to access them.

"Mmmmm!" Lita said as she entered the kitchen, inhaling deeply. "That smells delicious! Great job, Serenity!"

Serenity beamed and turned the bread onto the cooling rack. "After lunch can we work in the garden again? I do want to learn more about the beautiful flowers you have at the back."

"Sure," Lita said, laughing. "It's so nice to have someone to share my enthusiasm of gardening with!" And so they broke the bread, made sandwiches and ate happily until they were full. Serenity opened the door to the garden and skipped down the path that led to the flowers. Lita followed with a wicker basket of tools and two hats. She planted one firmly on Serenity's head and reached for their gloves.

"Honestly little one," she told her companion. "You'd forget your head if it wasn't attached firmly to your neck!"

"Then it's a good thing I have you to look after me Lita!" Serenity said happily as she jammed her hands eagerly into the small gloves. The older woman's smile dropped a notch at seeing the complete trusting nature her guest had with her. She almost felt guilty for keeping her here against her will, when she remembered what it was like to be lonely and threw the thoughts away with fervour. The girl would never find her friend and probably die trying, so Lita was doing a good thing keeping her here. Neither would be alone for the rest of their days.

"Aren't they all such gorgeous colours?" Serenity asked as she skimmed her hand over the soft silkiness of some colourful petals. "Flowers are so beautiful. So fragile and dependant on our care and maintenance but totally worth the effort in the spring." She pointed to a bunch of bright pink ones. "But these... These can't be blooming already, can they? It's autumn. They only sprout in the warmer months of summer and spring... What's their name? I have a feeling I know it. Did you tell me their name once?" Serenity wracked her brains. "It's on the tip of my tongue, I swear. Hy...hy..."

"Hydrangea," Lita interrupted. "I did tell you about them," she lied, fearing that any further triggering of Serenity's past might break her enchantment.

"Hydrangea! Right! So what are they doing blooming now? They hate the cold and shade. They want to be over there," she pointed to the middle of the garden, "Where there is as much sun as possible. We should move them quickly. We don't want them to die! Hey, doesn't the hydrangea stand for friendship, devotion and understanding? And how did I know that? Did you tell me that too?"

"Why don't you work on those over there," Lita pointed to the delphiniums, "while I see about moving these?"

"Sure." Serenity grabbed her clippers, held her large brimmed hat to her head and hurried off to the purple flowers by the gate.

Lita pursed her lips and with a wave her hand and a hiss of a spell, sent the hydrangeas back under the earth.

After shooting a light memory-altering spell at Serenity's back, she kneeled down and began work on the patch of cosmos nearby, which were looking a tad wilted and needed attention.

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><p>Serenity's hard work in the garden and efforts in the kitchen kept her busy, which in turn kept her mind off things such as what she was doing there and how she'd come to be at Lita's. It was only when she arrived one morning in the garden and looked around that she felt a sudden incompleteness in its beauty. Something was missing from the garden but she couldn't put her finger on it. She bent down to examine some deep pink flowers that she didn't know the name of when her hat fell off. She reached to grab it and started.<p>

_Roses_.

Roses were what were missing from the garden! She hadn't been able to remember until she'd seen the picture on the hat. In fact... Serenity lifted the hat up to her eyes. The brim was decorated with lovely drawings of many kinds of flowers, most of which Serenity knew the name of and how to care for them. But it was the blood-red roses that caught her attention.

She glanced around the garden, noticing not one flower resembled a rose, with its velvety texture and graceful bloom of soft shells. And the closest colour to red in the garden was that of the deep pink at her ankles.

Serenity smiled at the thought of a red rose. Red roses were her favourite. And there was something else, wasn't there...? Thinking of the rose hurt her head, like the oncoming headaches she got when she tried too hard to think about things like her childhood or where she had come from.

"Serenity?" Serenity dropped her hat in fright. She felt like she'd been caught doing something forbidden, like going into Lita's room or opening the gate for strangers.

"Yes, Lita?"

"I'm going to the market to trade some sweets for wine. Will you be all right to stay home by yourself?"

"Y-yes. I shall be happy to spend my day here in the garden with the flowers!" Lita nodded and covered her long brown hair with a green hood.

"I shall be back not long after lunch. Make yourself something if you get hungry."

Serenity nodded and bent down to pick up her hat. Lita's eyes fell on its brim for several seconds before waving and walking back through the cottage, to take the path around the other side. Serenity had never considered where that path might lead.

She remained where she stood for several minutes, making sure Lita was gone. Her heart was thudding in her chest. Something was wrong; suddenly she was frightened, but from what she didn't know.

She ran through the garden, turning this way and that. There had to be roses somewhere. They meant something to her. She didn't know what, but surely she'd know if she just saw them; felt them; held them.

Serenity searched every corner of the garden, looking for even the slightest hint of a rose before she finally collapsed in the middle, exhausted and gasping for breath. Tears welled up in her eyes. It was so important that she find a rose and there was not a single one. A tear slipped down her cheek and fell to the bare soil below. She felt hollow and empty inside, like something had been taken from her. Her head hurt and she reached up to clutch it in both hands, weeping at the mysterious loss and pain inside her chest.

More tears fell to the earth below her and as Serenity swiped them away from her face, she saw something remarkable. Dark red velvety buds were wriggling through the dirt, breaking the surface and rising gracefully to full height. Serenity choked on a hitched breath and watched in bewilderment as roses emerged from the ground right before her, stretching as if having had a long slumber.

"Roses?" she whispered in amazement. "Red... roses?" And then the barrage of memories hit her. Growing roses on the balcony with Endymion. Playing chess with Endymion. Making snow angels during winter when it was too cold for the flowers to grow, with Endymion. Endymion, Endymion, Endymion.

"Endymion," she gasped, clutching her chest and doubling over as the assault of images flew through her brain. Everything from her life returned to her and her memories were unveiled once more. She stared in horror at the roses. "How long have I been here? Oh lord, he could be in so much trouble and I've been here playing with plants and baking cookies!"

She scrambled to her feet but dropped back to her knees to lean down and kiss the nearest rose, feeling its soft petal against her lips. "He's not dead," she gasped gratefully. "You've been underground all this time and he was not there with you. Thank the lord!"

She pushed herself up and ran up the path to the cottage. She didn't have much time to waste. She snatched a loaf of bread and some cheese from the table and ran to the other side of her previous dwelling, only to find the front door locked. She barrelled back through the cottage, bursting out of the backdoor at the garden. She tried the gate but it was stuck, as if glued closed by magic.

She glanced around desperately, feeling like a caged animal trying to make flight. Her eyes fell on the flowers that towered over the fence. She'd once thought they beckoned her to come tend to them. Now she could see they themselves were trying to escape. She took several steps back and took a running leap over the fence, catching her dress and tumbling across the tiny dock. She rolled half off the end of it, splashing her waist and below in the water as she desperately tried to pull herself back up. She did so after much struggle and proceeded to edge her way across the thin bank that separated Lita's fence from the water.

What she found surprised her. It was her bag, still filled with her possessions and untouched since she'd thrown it ashore last time she'd been in the water. Long grass had grown around it, shielding it from any eyes from the cottage. Serenity fell on it gratefully, snatching it to her body and glancing around. Lita wasn't due back for some hours but she still had to hurry.

She had to get out of the area, before her friend realised she was missing and tried to look for her. "I'm not going back there," Serenity said, fists clenching to her bag. She ducked low and scurried beside the fence, eyes constantly scanning the fields around her. When she deemed it all clear, she sprinted for the thicket of trees at the beginning of the forest. She would not waste any more time. She had to look for Endymion.

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><p><em>Oh yeah, btw, extra points if you can pinpoint every anime or manga reference I make in this story i.e. the significance of the rose. That one doesn't count though coz it's obvious. But every chapter has a few little nuggets of awesome.<em>


	12. The Prince

**AN: **Hey guys, sorry for the delay. Life has been very hectic in this ol' country of mine. But I will tell you now that I am SO excited for this fic to end because the chapters get juicier and juicier as we inch towards the end! There's 31 chapters total, and I'm so happy with how it all ends so yeah, I hope you enjoy it too. Again, look out for Sailor Moon references throughout the story!

And don't forget to thank Kaitlyn Fall for betaing! She's been through something pretty tough and tragic lately, so we're all very grateful for her and her awesomeness. YAY! Ily bb xx

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><p><strong>The Prince<strong>

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><p>Serenity shivered as she trudged through the forest, arms crossed tightly on her chest and head bowed against the chill. It seemed Lita's cottage had been enchanted to appear slower in time, so the seasons weren't what they'd seemed. What Serenity had thought was the beginning of autumn was actually the end of it.<p>

She wished she'd grabbed at least a cloak for herself before leaving the warmth and protection of that small cottage.

Her legs _ached_. She'd never walked so far in her life. Certainly not in one day. She'd spent most of the morning practically jogging to ensure as much distance between herself and Lita as possible, too afraid of being followed or caught to stop.

She spied a nearby broken log and slumped onto it, hanging her head in her hands and huffing at the ground.

"Why can't you give me a sign, Endymion?" she said. "A clue to where you are. Anything will do, anything at all."

"You know they say that talking to yourself is the first sign of madness," a voice remarked from above Serenity. Serenity jumped and craned her head up to see a white cat smiling down at her from a long branch.

"Ooooh my lord," Serenity said with a moan. "I'm going mad." She rubbed her eyes with her fists. "I'm tired. That's what it is. Exhaustion. That's natural. Normal and healthy. Expected. I'm weary from travelling all day."

"And usually arguing or reasoning with yourself might be considered the second sign," the voice said lightly, as if finding this whole situation amusing. "But you and your company might want to wrap this conversation up; there's a storm coming you know."

Serenity peered over her shoulder, blinking up at the cat. "Are you talking to me?"

The feline jerked its head up. "'Course I am," he said. "But the real question is, are you listening to me? There's a storm coming. You might want to find some shelter."

"I don't have any shelter; I don't know where I am."

"Well you're in the middle of the forest, aren't you?"

Serenity eyed the cat without humour. "Gee, thanks."

"So what's got you all out this way anyway? Pretty young thing like you should be inside a house with a family or friends. Eating. Staying warm. Thank kind of stuff."

"I'm looking for my friend," Serenity said in a hard voice, staring at the ground before jerking her head up hopefully. "I don't suppose you've seen him?"

"Maybe I have," said the cat thoughtfully, licking his paw. "Tell me about your friend."

And so Serenity recounted her tale of Endymion's disappearance. By the end of it, she was weeping.

"And I just ran because I didn't want Lita to come back and imprison me again. If she did, I probably never would have been able to leave and I would have been too late to save Endy!"

The cat leapt nimbly from branch to branch until he could reach the log on which Serenity was seated. "Hey, now," he said in a soft voice. "Don't cry."

"I'm not crying," Serenity said as she wiped her face. "I'm... Okay, I'm crying! But I'm tired and cold and hungry." She threw the cat a hard look. "And apparently a storm's coming."

"That's right," he nodded. "A storm is coming." He lowered his voice. "But I might know where your friend is, so let's walk and talk, shall we?" He leapt from the log to the ground and began stalking away, without even glancing behind to see if Serenity was following.

"The name's Artemis, by the way," he said as an afterthought, trotting with his tail held high. "Mind your head."

Serenity ducked a low branch and ignored the whistling of the wind and the swishing of the branches and hooting of the birds and owls to focus on Artemis' voice.

"This land is ruled by a princess who is far wiser and cleverer than you could possibly imagine – and quite beautiful, too. She loves to read; she would read all day if she could. She loves to learn, you see. She tries to share what she learns in her books and newspapers with her ladies in waiting, but they just giggle and agree with whatever she says." He glanced over his shoulder and rolled his eyes. "To be honest, I don't think there's anything in those heads of theirs. Other than air."

Serenity nodded at his comment but did not interrupt, for she wanted to get to the part about Endymion. She hugged herself tightly both to contain her excitement and keep her warm. The dark clouds overhead were moving very quickly.

"Anyway, a few years ago, the princess got sick of all her pretend acquaintances. She wanted someone to talk to – a husband, she decided. He had to be of equal wit and knowledge so he could talk intelligently and debate with her. But all the young wealthy boys she'd grown up with were rather dim. The princess isn't dim – no, she devised a clever idea that would get her a husband. She put an advertisement in the newspaper, for that would eliminate quite a great deal as many in the kingdom didn't even bother reading the newspaper. They only looked at the pretty pictures or else read the headlines. Watch that rabbit hole."

Serenity glanced down just in time to see her foot about to land in the hole. She hastily stepped over it and kept her eyes alert for both low hanging branches and hazards in the ground.

Artemis didn't speak for a few more minutes and Serenity left him to his thoughts for some time, thinking he was concentrating on leading them to their destination. But after she felt too much silence had stretched, she spoke.

"Well? Did she find someone? She must have or you wouldn't be taking me to see him."

"Hey, hey, I never said we'd get to see him. I'm not a gate that can open and shut with connections. I'm merely hoping that _my _gate of connections will let you get a glimpse."

"Oh?" This piqued Serenity's interest. "And who would this be?"

"My sweetheart," Artemis sounded faintly embarrassed, but also proud. "Luna is the loveliest feline you will ever set your eyes upon, mark my words. And her tail! You've never seen a more – ahem. Luna, in fact, the one who told me this story. She lives in the palace with the princess, so she's in the perfect position for gossip – not that Luna's a gossip."

"I'm sure Luna's lovely," said Serenity in her very best placating voice. "So was that all you knew about the princess? Did she find her husband?" Somehow, the thought of Endymion, her best friend and almost brother growing up, being married couldn't sit in Serenity's mind. She wanted to cover her eyes and giggle at the thought. Endymion as someone's husband?

"Oh. Oh yes. The advertisement was quite a good idea in theory of course, but what the princess hadn't counted on was word of mouth. Once one person read in the paper that the princess was looking for a husband, well, then it spread like lice. I remember reading it myself when Luna showed me. The advertisement said that whoever could impress the princess most with their wit, knowledge and discourse would win her hand in marriage and thus become prince."

"I'm sure a lot of men would have thought themselves worthy of such a role," Serenity said, thinking of Gerald and the boys from her own town. She stepped over another rabbit hole and ducked under a cobweb that crossed between two tree trucks.

"And the princess didn't care for wealth and looks," Artemis added defensively.

"Of course not."

"So the interviews lasted days. I thought it would never end! I could see the queue from the trees outside the kingdom walls. As you can imagine, all the fine young men of the land turned up, full of brave talk and dressed in their fanciest clothes. But it didn't impress the princess. She didn't find anything in them. Most just agreed with the princess no matter what she said. Perfect husbands for the ladies in waiting, yes, but not for the princess."

Serenity caught sight of a grey turret poking through the high rise sky in between the trees above and felt her spirits lift. The wind was starting to pick up even stronger now, and her legs once more begged for a rest, but she pushed on.

"Almost three months passed and the princess hadn't found her suitor. There were still plenty of fancy carriages arriving by the day, bringing more pompous men who strutted around the palace like peacocks. One day, a man walked in carrying only a small cloth bundle on his back – on which he wore a plain coat – and strolled in, perfectly at ease. His eyes were bright. Sort of like yours. And his hair was dark and thick and curling at the bottom of his neck."

Serenity's heart leapt to her throat. "But that's Endymion!" she cried, running forward. Her hair swirled around her in the wind and she subconsciously rubbed her arms to keep them warm as she smiled down at her companion. "Artemis, that's Endymion! The bundle was probably his sled. And he always kept his hair just that little too long! He did it to annoy me. Artemis, you have to believe me."

Artemis stopped up short. "Don't go getting ahead of yourself, girl. You don't want to face extreme disappointment later. Calm down until we know for sure, that's all I can say. Anyway," he cleared his throat and closed his eyes. "May I continue?"

"Yes, sorry. So what did Endymion do?"

Artemis heaved a sigh but didn't argue. "He strolled in, perfectly at ease. Nodded to the guards, made some little quips to them on his way in. Meandered into the Great Hall as if not a care in the world and made his way before the princess. He stood there and commented on her beautiful short dark hair. She replied that flattery would get him nowhere unless he could show her some substance of intelligence or wit. And so he went! They conversed for nearly an hour. With everyone comment of the princess', the young man quickly and easily replied – usually embellished with a compliment."

Serenity felt her hope gain further momentum. Endymion was always one for a verbal sparring match – and he could certainly turn on the charm when he wanted to. Endymion's grandmother had often said that too much flattery from him could lead a girl to believe she was more accomplished than she actually was. She smiled at the memory. Up ahead were the kingdom walls.

"So he won the princess' hand, right? So Endymion's a prince now! Oh my lord."

"Yes, they married, but hold on _please_. I can just imagine the disappointment you'd suffer if it turned out not to be your friend. Now as for meeting the young man in question..."

"Hang on," Serenity interrupted. "You don't know his name?"

Artemis shrugged – or what a cat would look like shrugging as it walked. Maybe his shoulder bones just jutted out that way. "Never saw the point. I don't live in the kingdom, see. I live out here in the forest. I'm a cat who lives on the wild side – no, Luna's the one who'd know. We should ask her."

They slipped through the gates to the kingdom as he spoke, sticking to the shadows to avoid being seen by the guards, who were all standing around a bin of fire and keeping an eye out from there.

Artemis leapt lightly onto an old crate and whispered, "Follow me!" before darting off and down a small alleyway. Serenity hurried after him.

They ran until they were behind the large grey palace.

"Why are we here?" Serenity asked. "Why can't we just use the front door? Endy'd want to see me."

Artemis looked her up and down and tried to put it as delicately as possible. "With your dress as dirty as it is, and your boots in tatters, they'd scarcely allow you in the doors of the palace. There's no way you'll be able to get a glimpse of the prince unless we sneak you in."

"We?" Serenity frowned.

"Stay here, I'll be back in a moment," Artemis told her. "But stay hidden. Guards will soon be coming around back here and you look like a shifty street beggar."

Serenity crouched behind some barrels and tried her best to contain her excitement. To keep her mind occupied, she counted the seconds. Artemis returned at 428. With him was another cat, this one with dark, glossy fur, which contrasted starkly with Artemis' dirty white. Her curious red eyes fell down on Serenity, who grinned sheepishly up at her from her hiding place.

"Luna here has agreed to take you to the Great Hall through some secret passageways. You won't be seen but you can see if the prince is your Endymion."

Serenity frowned. "You don't know his name?"

"I will not betray my Princess' and Princes' trust by revealing private information unless absolutely essential," Luna bristled. "And besides, his name had changed with the title of Prince, so it is irrelevant."

"All right then," Serenity said as she jumped to her feet. "Lead the way."

"Get back down," Luna hissed, jumping behind the barrel also. Artemis had no choice but to sit where he was and meow like a regular cat as a pair of guards rounded the corner.

"Ged oudda here," one said, waving his hands at Artemis.

"Shoo, you filthy alleycat," the other said. Artemis leapt from the barrel and scratched one guard's ankle, streaking away in the direction they'd just come. The two guards chased after him yelling angrily, giving Serenity and Luna valuable time to find the trapdoor that was further round the back of the palace. And it was hidden well – without Luna's close eye and much of Serenity's sweeping away of old dirt and leaves, it wouldn't have been found at all.

"It's locked," Serenity said in dismay as she looked at the rusted chain, linked by a giant padlock.

Luna held up her paws and extended her sharp nails. "I don't sharpen these on the tapestry for nothing."

Serenity watched in amazement as Luna picked the lock with a dexterity that suited a human more than a feline, and threw the chain back. She held the trapdoor open enough to allow them both through, cringing as it creaked loudly when closed.

"Where to now?" she whispered in the dark, with only a thin streak of fading sunlight filtering through the crack of the trapdoor. She jumped when a heavy weight landed on her right shoulder, but the soft fur and warm body told her it was Luna, so she relaxed.

"Place your hand on the wall and walk slowly. Follow this tunnel until we reach the kitchens. I'll guide you from there," a warm voice whispered in her ear. Serenity nodded and followed her instructions, creeping through the pitch black tunnel as fast as she dared, her mounting excitement mingling with her slight fear of the dark. She was starting to feel claustrophobic, despite the wide, airy tunnel. "Do you see that light?" Luna whispered after a while.

"No." Serenity squinted as hard as she could. "Your eyes must be better than mine."

"They are," Luna said as Serenity gasped.

"I can see it now."

"That'll be the kitchens. This used to be an old emergency tunnel for if the palace was ever attacked and the royals needed a quick getaway. But the old king had long procured peace in our land, so I doubt anybody remembers this tunnel's existence. We're going to have to be very careful when we sneak through. We don't want to raise the alarm or it'll be both our skins on the line."

"Okay."

Serenity crept even slower as she approached the light, which turned out to be from a crack in a doorway. Serenity pressed her eye to the crack but couldn't spot any movement.

"I don't see anyone," Serenity said, turning her shoulder to the door so Luna could see for herself.

"We must be quick," the cat said. "Push gently against the door."

Serenity turned to her other side and used the left hand side of her body to apply pressure to the wood. Thankfully it was old and slightly soft, so it didn't creak or resist much. Serenity broke through and both she and Luna tumbled into a small circular room, lit only by a few candles.

"We're in the storeroom," Luna said. "But if my nose is correct, they are making dinner so we must get out of here before anyone can see us. Follow me." And she darted across the room.

Serenity's heart pounded in her chest. She didn't want to be caught. Not if it meant her chance to see Endymion would be taken away.

Together, cat and girl snuck through the castle, slipping from shadows and hiding behind suits of armour, to using old servants' passages. It was as Serenity and Luna were climbing a staircase that had long been forgotten that the pair had their first disagreement.

"This way," Luna said as she turned to their left. But Serenity was glimpsing down the corridor to their right.

"What's down there?" she asked.

"The library. But he won't be there. Not at this hour when it is soon time for dinner. Come."

But her words fell on deaf ears. The library! Endymion would surely be there – if not now, then soon after his dinner.

"Miss!" Luna whispered loudly in alarm. "Miss, please come this way."

But Serenity was already grinning at the image in her head of surprising Endymion when he returned to the library. It was probably his favourite room in the palace! Of course she would find him there.

Serenity snuck down the corridor and found herself staring up at the large and glossy dark doors. She put both hands to one of the elaborate gold handles and pushed down, slipping between the heavyset panels and closing the door just as quietly.

She turned to face the giant room, a wide grin splitting her dirty face.

Her eyes fell on a large, cushy blue armchair by a crackling orange fire. Or more specifically, the young man sitting in it, staring back at her in surprise.

Serenity fainted straight away, dropping heavily to the thick mauve carpet.


	13. The Princess

**AN: **Thought I'd update again since there was a big gap between chapters 11 and 12. You won't mind, I think :)

Okay, so I saw how many typos and weird sentences there were in the first draft of this when Kaitlyn Fall sent it back and oh my gosh. Definitely thanking her for making this more readable ha. Like, it was _scary_ how bad it was.

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><p><strong>The Princess<strong>

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><p>Serenity whimpered at the cold, shivering and turning her head to rid the numbing pain from her forehead. Something wet slopped next to her face.<p>

"Shhh, hey, it's all right," a light and soothing voice said. Serenity felt her hair being brushed from her face. She stirred and slowly opened her eyes…

…To meet the dark and intelligent gaze of the princess. Her gold crown winked in the firelight.

Serenity bolted up, clutching her head with one hand and scrabbling behind her for her bag.

"I have your things right here, don't worry," the princess said with a smile. "Although I'm afraid I threw out the stale bread. I didn't want mould growing on your possessions."

Serenity stared in silence, heart beating furiously in her chest. Why was the princess talking to her? Was she about to be thrown into the dungeons? And where was...

Serenity groaned, bringing her other hand to her head. "Endymion," she moaned.

"I'm sorry," the princess said, bending closer. "What did you say?"

Serenity's shoulders began to shake. "He told me not to get my hopes up. He told me I shouldn't get ahead of myself. I didn't listen because I thought for sure that it would be Endymion. And it wasn't. I still don't know where he is."

She picked up part of her skirt and wiped her eyes. "What are you going to do with me?"

"Nothing yet. I just want to talk to you." She picked up the wet facewasher from the carpet and put it into a bowl. "For starters, you can tell me how you got into my library," she said, glancing behind Serenity.

Serenity turned her head to meet the politely puzzled expression of the man she'd seen in the armchair from which she now lay beside. On his head also glinted a polished golden crown in the fire's light.

"I... I... climbed in through a window," she said, turning back to the princess, who made a clucking noise.

"Try again," she said. "And please do not lie."

"I came in through an old tunnel," the blonde admitted.

The princess frowned thoughtfully. "I had almost forgotten that existed," she said after a moment's consideration. "Pray, tell us how you came to find it."

Serenity twisted her skirt in her hands, an action the princess did not fail to notice.

"There were these two cats," Serenity began, wishing with all her might that her story would not sound as ridiculous as it was. She didn't want to be thrown in prison for seeming a liar when she was telling the truth.

"And this one, Artemis, he told me about you both. I had met him in the forest and he inquired as to what was troubling me and I said I was looking for a friend of mine. A young man named Endymion. And he thought that there was a possibility that the man I searched for was..." She turned her head to look at the prince. "Well I thought it might be the prince."

She expected laughter, but the prince and princess remained silent. "And so Artemis took me to see Luna," Serenity continued before she was interrupted.

"Luna did you say? Tell me about her."

"Well... She has the darkest, glossiest fur I've ever seen, and intelligent red eyes that seem to almost pierce your mind. Her voice –" Serenity stopped.

"This cat also spoke to you?" the princess asked, to which Serenity bowed her head in shame and nodded.

"And did she sound almost bossy?" Serenity nodded before realising there was humour in the princess' voice. "Ah," she said. "Then it is my cat you refer to."

"_Your_ cat?" Serenity asked incredulously. "But she didn't even know the prince's name! How could she – wait, you know she can talk?"

"Of course I do," the princess said amiably. "It was I who discovered that she could talk." At Serenity's obvious shock, she laughed. "Animals are just as intelligent as we humans," she said. "If only we are able to realise this and treat them so. They will always talk if you are willing to listen."

To her husband she asked, "Could you please call for Luna and send for someone to fetch this young maiden some fruit and water? I have a feeling she has a bit of a story behind her."

Serenity's stomach grumbled loudly at the thought of food and the princess laughed. "Perhaps some cheese and bread too."

"I'll see to it myself," nodded the prince.

The princess tucked a strand of her short, dark hair behind her ear and rose gracefully to her feet before settling into one of the cushy armchairs. "Please." She indicated to the other.

When Serenity seated herself, the softness and comfortableness almost sent her to sleep, it was so relaxing. The fire crackled warmly between the two young women as the loud pitter patter of rain started outside the windows.

"What is your name?" the princess asked, stirring Serenity from her sleepy thoughts.

"Serenity, your highness."

"You may call me Amy, for I feel from you a great likeness to myself and therefore we can converse as friends. You do not seem to be anything at all like my ladies-in-waiting." Warmth rushed to Serenity's cheeks at the compliment she knew it was.

"So Luna brought you into the palace," Amy continued. "She would not do so unless she believed that it would greatly benefit you. My Luna can be proud of sorts at times, and does not take to friendship with people often. I suppose I can see why she liked you and wanted to help you. But you say it was another cat who helped you find Luna?"

"Yes, I met Artemis in the forest. He spoke to me first."

"Artemis spoke to you?" Amy hummed thoughtfully. "I'd like to speak to him if I may get the chance. I shall have to ask Luna." She focussed once more on her guest. "Please, continue."

"Well like I said, I spoke to Artemis about how I was looking for Endymion, my best friend, and how I didn't know where he'd gone. He said that the prince of the land had shown up unknown and created quite an impression on her highness with his wit and cleverness and it just sounded so much like my Endy that I honestly, truly did think they would be one and the same. And so Artemis took me to Luna, who brought me through the tunnel and the servant's stairways and through a few secret passages." Serenity averted her eyes in slight shame. "And I saw the library and knew that that would be where I would most likely find Endymion. Luna tried to stop me but I didn't listen. And when I saw your husband... I don't know, I just remember thinking _'It's not him' _and then nothing."

"Well you're right," Amy said primly, smoothing out her skirt. "It wasn't him." She broke out into a smile, to show she was kidding. "But that doesn't mean we aren't willing to help you find your friend if he is somewhere nearby. The town outside perhaps. Or a surrounding village. Ah, Greg, I'm glad you found her."

Serenity turned to watch as the prince carried a silent and haughty-looking Luna.

"You should have listened to me," Luna said when she was set down on Amy's lap. "You insolent girl. I was taking you to the portrait room so that you might look upon the prince without causing trouble."

"Now, now, Luna," Amy said soothingly, petting the feline with her pale hand. "Serenity has just been informing me of your help. And it has me wondering why you would agree to it in the first place. Perhaps a certain forest cat blinded you a little?" she teased.

"Hardly," Luna cried. "It was this young woman's story that swayed me. It was very moving and I admit I felt compelled to help in what way I could – in this case, confirming whether or not his highness was her friend Endymion."

"Which we have already seen disproved. But tell me Serenity; tell me this story that has so thoroughly captured the audience of two felines. You have a certain air about you that gives me the impression it is to be not a happy one at all. And help yourself to some food while you do." She indicated the plate of assorted foods that was being placed on the small table beside Serenity's chair by a servant.

From the armchair next to Amy's, Greg leaned forward curiously, as if intent not to miss a single word.

Reaching for a grape and chewing it thoughtfully, Serenity began. "Well I suppose it all starts from when I was a very young girl, and had just lost..."


	14. The Search

**AN: **Hello all, I hope you had a really great Christmas and are gearing up for an epic New Year's celebration! Hope you enjoyed this chapter :)

Thanks to Kaitlyn Fall for her betaing talents!

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><p><strong>The Search<strong>

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><p>"That," said Amy an hour later, leaning back in her chair and staring at Serenity with wide eyes, "is probably the single saddest story I will ever hear in my life."<p>

"Lord, how can you have so much conviction?" Greg said, taking off his crown to shake up his hair. "There's no way I'd be so confident with so many setbacks."

"Well I know it sounds silly," Serenity said, reaching for the last of the apricots. "But I can just feel it all the way through my body. I can feel it in my bones that he's alive; I can feel it in my soul that he needs my help. I have to find him no matter what. You know?"

Amy glanced at her husband. "We need to help her," she said, to which he nodded. "We need to see to it that this bewitching story has a happy ending."

"Indeed," Greg said gravely, leaning forward and resting his chin on his clasped hands.

"You want to help me?" Serenity asked, unable to believe her ears. "Even though I broke into your palace and ignored Luna's instructions?"

"There's no excuse for bravery and courage," Greg said wisely. "And who are we to try to reign in on that?"

"We shall send out some guards tomorrow to look for any young men in the surrounding villages and towns who fit the description of your Endymion. But as for you, we'd like to keep you rested and well fed to keep up your health and strength. You'll do Endymion no good if you collapse in the middle of nowhere because you're too weary."

"Thank you," Serenity gushed. "Thank you so much!"

"Greg, would you be so kind as to inform James we'll be needing another place setting for dinner? I'll take Serenity to quickly get cleaned up."

"Of course," Greg said, leaning over and kissing Amy on the cheek before rising and exiting through a door on the other side of the large library.

"You are being too kind," Serenity said, frowning as Amy pulled her to her feet and tucked her arm in her own.

"On the contrary," Amy said as she steered them to the main doors, where Serenity had collapsed before. "There can never be too much kindness in our world. And we want to help you. You've taken hit after hit already on your journey."

They ascended two floors and Amy had Serenity change from her dirty dress into a long and comfortable, but simple gown. Serenity washed her hands and face in a bowl by the bed that she would spend the night in and they returned downstairs for dinner.

As they ate through many courses of mushroom and leek soup, fine beef and vegetables, and more fruits for dessert, the trio talked about only the kind of things that the clever and knowledgeable could talk about. And whilst Serenity could barely manage half a plate of each course- for she had never been fed so much in one sitting in her life before- she laughed with her company as Greg recounted his first visit to the palace, tutted as Amy complained of the loneliness that had been her ladies-in-waiting and finally, yawning, found herself content and happy like she hadn't felt in weeks.

"We are tiring you out," Amy said at Serenity's third yawn. "Please, I'll take you to your room again. You've been on your feet all day, I had forgotten." Serenity smiled and thanked Amy for her kindness, allowing herself to be escorted to her bedchambers.

"If there is anything you think you shall need," Amy said as she bid Serenity good night, "just pull this rope here." She indicated a thick gold cord dangling beside the bed. "Our servants will attend to you. But I think you will not be needing it until morning, as you look quite ready to give way to exhaustion, are you not? Then I shall leave you for now and see you in the morning, when you are rested and recovered."

"Thank you," Serenity said. "And good night." Amy closed the door and Serenity stumbled to her dresser to find a nightgown similar to her size. She slipped it on and hung up her dinner gown in the closet before collapsing on the bed without even bothering with the covers. She slept deeply for over 10 hours.

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><p>Serenity bolted upright at the sight of an unfamiliar ceiling, before the previous night came rushing back to her. She slumped back down to her pillows, chewing inside her cheek and remembering that today Amy and Greg would send out guards looking for Endymion. With that in mind, Serenity dressed hastily in a forest green gown, undid her hair, brushed it and restyled it in its customary buns and threw open her bedroom doors, startling a young maid.<p>

"Oh forgive me," Serenity said, dropping to her knees and helping the servant pick up the linen she had dropped. "I was a bit excited."

The servant said nothing, keeping her eyes on the ground as she gathered the towels. When they both rose to their feet again, the young girl said in a quiet voice and without removing her eyes from her feet, "I was unaware you were awake, Miss. I was told by the princess to come run you a bath before lunch for when you awoke."

"Oh," Serenity blinked. "That's very kind of you."

"It's my job, Miss."

"Right, right, of course it is. I suppose a bath does sound lovely but I was just on my way to speak to the princess, so maybe later."

"The princess is currently in court and will remain so until lunch," the servant girl said. "You will not be able to speak to her or his highness until then."

"Well in that case," Serenity said with a frown. "I guess I have nothing else to do. All right, a bath it is then."

She was led to an adjoining bathroom that was just off her bedroom and watched in mild amusement as the servant began to fill the bath tub.

"How old are you?" she asked, curious at the youth of the girl's face.

"Not yet sixteen, Miss," the girl replied as she worked.

"You're a little young to be working, aren't you?" But even as she said it, she remembered starting work at her parent's bakery not long after she turned sixteen herself.

"My brother and I lost our parents a few years ago. We have to work to provide for ourselves."

"That's horrible," Serenity said with a gasp. "I'm sorry for your loss. I know what it's like to lose someone."

The girl blew some of her hair out of her face as she looked up over the bath. "You have?" Her eyes shot back down to her work. "I'm sorry," she said. "It's not my place to ask."

"What's your name anyway?" Serenity asked.

"Molly, Miss."

"That's a nice name," Serenity told her. "It suits you."

"Your bath is ready, Miss, if you would like to test the water." Serenity stuck a finger in and swished it around in the soapy warmth.

"It's perfect, thank you," she said, expecting Molly to leave. But when Molly held out her arms as if to help undress her, Serenity finally understood her role. "Oh!" she said. "You don't have t- That is to say, if you have other chores to do- or feel uncomfor-oh okay," she said as Molly started unbuttoning the back of her gown. She was helped out of the dress and into the bath, where she immediately reclined in the large, spacious tub. It was much bigger than the one she'd had at home. She undid her hair and Molly poured a bucket of water over it before lathering it with soap and massaging it in. Serenity closed her eyes in bliss at the feeling. It had been so long since she'd been this relaxed. She began sliding down the tub, sinking further and further into the bubbly froth of water when Molly cried, "Miss!" and she bolted up again, splashing water everywhere.

"Sorry about that," she said, blushing. "I'll help you clean that up."

Molly looked at her strangely. "But you are a guest here; you do not need to clean up." She poured another bucket of water over Serenity's hair, rinsing the soap from it. She rubbed some conditioner on her hands and combed it through the long blonde tresses.

"Tell me about this palace then," Serenity said. "What is it like working here?"

"Well her highness had me hired herself, when she heard of my brother's and my misfortune," Molly began. "She's very altruistic like that..."

When Serenity was bathed, dried and redressed, Molly took her down to the dining room where she was seated and only had to wait several minutes before she was joined by Amy and Greg, who were deep in conversation.

"But if we give the lands back to the rightful owner who knows how to take care of them," Amy was saying, "then he could produce tenfold crop at harvest for the town, as well as make enough money to pay off the debts."

"But you are forgetting that the lands were lawfully transferred by his father and therefore we cannot just take that away," Greg argued. "I know we want to do the right thing, but we must also be honourable and lawful." He spied their guest watching them with interest. "Ah, good afternoon Serenity. I trust you slept well?"

"Very," Serenity said. "What news have you in regards to the search for Endymion?"

"We have sent out a small party of guards to search the town and the two nearby villages," Amy said as she took her place beside Serenity. "But we will not likely hear from any suitors until tomorrow. For now you must solely focus on your rest."

"Well I'm much rested," Serenity smiled.

"That's what we want to hear," Greg said heartily as he reached for the pitcher of juice.

* * *

><p>Several candidates arrived at the palace a day, each claiming to be a young man of origins unknown who were looking for their childhood friend. But Serenity, Amy and Greg could see right through their attempts – they were only thinking of rewards. And so each day, those same men who had proudly marched up to the palace trotted out downcast.<p>

But that isn't to give credit to the guards. They certainly had their descriptions correct – Serenity had never seen so many young men who could pass as Endymion's relatives, had he had any other than his grandmother.

But the more candidates she saw, the less hopeful Serenity became that this would be the method that would bring her Endymion. Amy and Greg also knew this.

The subject of Serenity's departure was brought up one night during chess after dinner, when Amy's knight captured one of Serenity's pawns.

"You're not really happy here, are you?"

"I am," Serenity looked up in surprise. "This is my favourite room in the palace. I've spent nearly every day in here."

"No, I mean here _in _the palace. You want to go out and look for Endymion again, don't you?"

Serenity sank back in her chair, forgetting the game entirely. "I do. He's just not here. He would have heard of me looking for him at the very least, if the guards had not already found him." She sighed miserably. "He's making it very difficult for me to find him when I haven't a trace to go on."

"Well you already know what I think," Amy said in all seriousness.

"I can't," Serenity said sadly, eyes misting up. "I can't stay with you. I have to look for him."

"You don't even know where he is. You can't expect to blindly cover every corner of the globe until you happen to either stumble upon a clue or his body."

"That was cruel," Serenity said in a low voice. Amy nodded and immediately apologised,

"I know. Sorry. It's just that I really like you, Serenity. You've become closer to me than almost anyone else I've met in my life – save for Greg." She smiled at her husband before staring at the girl opposite her. "I don't want you to die looking for something that may already be a lost cause. I care about you too much. Stay with us. Here. At the palace. We'll make sure you're always looked after. We can find you suitors or friends your own age. We can employ Molly as your particular friend. I know how much you like her."

Serenity shook her head. "That's very kind but I have to say no."

Greg sighed and turned the page in his book. "I told you she would say that."

Amy blew her fringe out of her eyes in frustration. "I know. But you can't blame me for trying."

"I should like to leave tomorrow morning then," Serenity said, clasping her hands together and watching her friend.

"Fine." Amy returned to the game and placed her knight before Serenity's queen. "Checkmate."


	15. The Bandits

**AN: **Hope you are all enjoying the story. Thank you for all the lovely reviews! It's so nice to see people still read this story when the SM ff community is pretty much dead these days, sad face. But here we go and enjoy chapter 15!

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><p><strong>The Bandits<strong>

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><p>Greg helped Serenity into her coach and Amy handed up her bag, which had been loaded with as much food as it could carry.<p>

"Make sure you visit us on your way home," Amy said as she clasped both of Serenity's hands in her own. "I want to meet this Endymion, who inspired such courage and persistence in my friend."

She stepped back and Greg's hands replaced her own. He kissed Serenity's knuckles. "Your bravery and determination even when the odds have seemed against you will always make me remember the remarkable young woman you are. I can't wait to see you again soon." He stepped back and wrapped an arm around his wife's waist and called to the coachman that they could go.

"Goodbye, Serenity!" Amy waved as the coach took off, her long blue gown kicking around her legs as she jogged after the coach. "Find Endymion!"

Serenity continued to wave until she could see the prince and princess no more. She then turned back in her seat and snuggled into the fur coat she'd been given – one of the many, many lavish gifts she'd parted from the palace with, upon the insistence of Amy and Greg.

The coach rattled from side to side on the old dirt road and Serenity found herself drifting off to sleep by the window after some time, the constant rocking causing her eyes to drift shut as she stared intently out the window. When she awoke, she realised it had gotten much, much colder and even showed signs of soon snowing.

The coach followed the road that took them past meadows and farms, to swamps – which they had to detour around– and through forests, both thick and thin. When the sun had set, the coachman and guard each lit a lamp and continued to travel well into the dying light. But the swinging lamps of golden yellow light created an eerie atmosphere to Serenity, who watched as they flung their haunting and scary-looking shadows across the trees. The sounds of the horses' hooves and the rattling of the coach was all she could hear, and still she grew more and more uneasy.

Serenity knew then that she wouldn't be able to sleep, not with her heart so close to her throat and her mouth as dry was it was with fear. But she also knew that she was protected, for she was travelling with a coachman and guard, something she hadn't had before.

But just as she thought this, the area erupted in noise. The yells of many men combined with the sound of the horses' frightened neighing, and there was the unmistakable _shing_ of swords being unsheathed. Serenity covered her mouth as she heard both her coachman and guard give strangled cries of pain before their bodies could be heard hitting the road.

Someone was trying to calm the horses, this voice sounding slightly more female than the others, and Serenity was wretched from the door by a large and grubby hand. She fell to the ground but was yanked up again by the upper arm.

"Look what we got here," said the man triumphantly as he held Serenity's arm up at an awkward angle. "We got ourselves a princess to ransom!"

"I'm not a princess!" Serenity tried to cry, but was drowned out by a group cheer of the man's comrades.

"Take her back to camp!" one yelled. "We better get this coach off the road before anyone sees."

Serenity felt many hands on her arms, each tugging in a different direction but collectively pulling her through the thicket of trees. She had never felt so frightened in her life, nor so powerless. She screamed and fought with her captors but it was no use, there were too many and they were too strong. She continued to scream all the way back to their camp.

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><p>Serenity was thrown to the ground in front of a man of middle age but who had an air of superiority and power, even over those in the group who were clearly much older.<p>

"What should we do with her, boss?" one man with an eye patch asked. A streaking scar peeked out from both sides of his patch, and Serenity shuddered to think what it looked like underneath.

"Can we eat her?" another asked hopefully.

"We gon' sell her, right?" another asked, looking around for support. "A princess'll get us fed for the rest of our lives!"

Serenity's wrists were being bound behind her back as she kneeled before the men who were deciding her future. Her hands trembled.

"And it could also get use caught if she tells them where our camp is or some of the guards kill us when we try to get the money," another spat, pointing a stunted finger at Serenity. "You really wanna risk death for that thing?"

"I'm not a princess!" Serenity cried from the ground.

"We could find other uses for her," the man with the eye patch said over the top of her. "Since Ann won't fill the position." He glared over his shoulder with his one eye.

"Yeah, let's do that one," said a tall, broad man with a tangled black beard and a deep voice. He leaned down to put his face in Serenity's. "You do look delicious," he leered as he licked his lips. Serenity started shaking, which caused him to roar out laughing.

"Quiet," said the man seated before Serenity in no louder a voice than as if he was conversing with her. The group fell silent. The man's light blue eyes travelled down Serenity's glossy hair, expensive crimson gown and new leather boots. "What should we do with you?" he asked her in his quiet voice.

Someone pushed through to the front of the group of men and spat. "I see I got left to struggle with the horses again. It's because I'm a woman, isn't it?"

"You're not a woman until you give us some," leered Eye Patch as she glared up unto her face. The girl pulled a knife seemingly from out of thin air and held it to the man's throat.

"I," she said, tapping the knife against his throat. "Can," - she tapped his chin - "Give," - his left cheek - "You," - his right cheek - "Another," his eye patch, "Scar." She traced over his remaining eye with barely an inch between his eyeball and the blade. She pulled the knife back down to his throat. "If you give me reason to." When Eye Patch simply glared at her, she gave him a tight smile and flicked her knife closed, slipping it in her belt. "I thought so."

She turned her attention to Serenity and the man she knelt before. "Give her to me," she said in no uncertain terms.

"You?" The other men laughed. "What would you want to do with her?"

"That is my decision. But you will give her to me as my special companion," she continued to the seated man. "I will make sure you don't regret it."

Everyone turned to the leader, looking down on him with abated breath. Even Serenity found herself holding her breath. The man stared without blinking at the woman. Finally, he jerked a nod.

"The girl goes to Ann. She will do what she likes with her."

This decision was met with howls of rage, more arguments and much spitting at the ground, but the man only held up his hand to commandeer silence as Ann grabbed a hold of Serenity's upper arm and dragged her to her feet, marching her away from the group.


	16. The Mix Up

**AN: **Baby-sized chapter, so I'll post another one in a couple of days since this one is oooooooooh so cliffhangery. Jokes. Anyway, enjoy.

Kaitlyn Fall is epic for her betaing talents! Also for her very cuddly dog.

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><p><strong>The Mix-Up<strong>

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><p>"Come on then," Ann said as she prodded Serenity between the shoulder blades with a bony finger. "Move." Serenity stumbled in her haste and Ann scoffed. "Not a very graceful princess, are you?"<p>

"But that's what I've been trying to tell you!" Serenity huffed, looking over her shoulder. "I'm not a princess!"

"Aaaaand yet I don't believe you."

"I'm not," Serenity insisted.

Ann pulled her up short and circled her with a critical eye. She stopped before Serenity, close enough that Serenity could smell the faint trace of wine on her breath. She tried not to wrinkle her nose.

Ann put a finger under her chin and lifted the fur around her shoulders. She raised an eyebrow and tugged at the crimson dress, which was clearly made from the finest material in the kingdom. She knelt down and rapped her knuckles on the leather boots before standing again and bringing a long, blonde stream of shiny, freshly washed hair to Serenity's face.

"Forgive me if I don't believe you, Your Highness," she said in a flat voice. Serenity felt a thrill of panic wash over her. "Perhaps you are a servant and you swapped clothes with your mistress in your fine gold coach when you heard us kill your driver and guard." She gave a humourless laugh. "Oh wait; it was just you in the back of the coach." Serenity's eyes closed at the realisation that she would not be able to get out of this situation, that there were too many factors stacked against her for this criminal and her gang to ever believe she was nothing more than a baker's daughter from a town far, far, far away from here.

She felt another prod in her back. "Move," the voice said from behind her, and she started marching again, stepping over loose stones and crunching on dried leaves and twigs. Autumn had been and left its trail of destruction behind it.

"Where are we going?" Serenity asked, hoping it was the better question to ask than 'What are you going to do with me?'

They stopped at a large pile of rocks that looked like they'd formed their assemblage a long time ago. Serenity was steered to a small opening, which was revealed to be the mouth of a cave. Sounds of many frightened animals cried out in the dark. "We're changing clothes," Ann said. "And much as I don't care what the boys see of you, I at least have some dignity."

Serenity's wrists were released from their rope as she was forced out of her warm fur coat and comfortable gown and boots, and into the ragged dress of Ann's. Ann retied Serenity's raw wrists together and transferred her belt to her new gown, patting her knife softly to ensure it was secured to her waist.

Serenity shivered and hugged herself. Her new dress was very thin and the material was itchy. She knew she would not sleep a wink that night - even if she'd been able to. She still didn't know what the people wanted with her. Other than the man with the eye patch. She knew perfectly well what he and his big friend wanted with her. She shivered again, this time not from the cold.

"Back out we go," Ann declared as she prodded Serenity in the back again. Serenity marched back into the cold as Ann hissed, "They know nothing of my cave. If you tell them, I _will_ kill you. Instantly, but painfully." Serenity didn't doubt that.

They were greeted by merry cheers, which told Serenity, if the bottles in their hands hadn't, that the men were now getting seriously drunk. "Care for some booze, darlin'?" one of the men asked Serenity as he held out his bottle. He burst out laughing and many cackles joined in. "She can't have any," he said. "Because she hasn't earned it yet!" He continued to laugh until he went purple in the face, hiccupped and fell off the log on which he was sitting. "Oof!"

"She isn't going to be earning anything," Ann said. "She's not one of us so she won't be doing any stealing. She is my special friend and that's that. I should cut out your tongue for giving her ideas," she said looking down at the man who lay on the forest floor. He gulped nervously but choked on his saliva and coughed.

"You know how to cook?" Ann asked Serenity. "Or did you have people do that for you?"

"I know how to cook," said Serenity. Ann smirked triumphantly.

"Then it looks like we've found ourselves a cook, boys!" she called, to which more cheers were made.

"Someone bring out the rabbit and skin it for her. She may be the cook but there's no way in hell she's going to be allowed to wield her own knife."

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><p>"Tell me a story," Ann demanded as they settled for bed. Serenity's wrists were now tied in front of her, but hugged around a tree so she couldn't 'get any ideas about running away while they slept. She shuffled her shoulders, trying to make herself as comfortable as possible.<p>

"I don't really know many stories," she said, watching as Ann prepped her new 'pillow' - that was, her fur coat - for maximum comfort.

"You do," Ann said. "And you will tell me one now." Her hand crept lightly to her hip where her knife sat, and Serenity started talking.

"Okay. Um. Once there was a little girl and a little boy. They were brother and sister and loved each other very much. They did everything together. They played games and puzzles, ran out in the meadows during the warmer months, learned how to bake during the colder months... But then the little boy disappeared. Everyone assumed he had died; drowned in the lake. And the little girl was very sad. Very sad. Heartbroken." Serenity looked through misty eyes to see that her companion had already fallen asleep. She rubbed her tears on her shoulder and tried to think of happier times but it was difficult, given her grim circumstances.

'If only you could see me now,' she thought, thinking of all her loved ones. Her mum and dad, Endymion, Gran, Artemis, Luna, Amy and Greg, Molly... 'If only you could see me now.'

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><p><em>Feel free to let me know what Sailor Moon references you notice! They're half the fun when writing my fics<em>


	17. The Chores

**AN: **I've been getting back into all the chapters I wrote back in November and I'm so excited to get the story moving that I'm posting another chapter... only four days after the last one. And here I was trying to stick with one once a week. I'm so weak willed. Tsk tsk.

*waves to Kaitlyn Fall for her betaing and Naoko Takeuchi for the characters that I have mostly taken OOC and Hans Christian Anderson for his beautiful fairytale of the Snow Queen*

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><p><strong>The Chores<strong>

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><p>"Get up," Ann said, swinging a kick to Serenity's stomach. Serenity convulsed and curled into a foetus shape before staring at her captor in fear. "Get up," Ann repeated, reaching down to the rope that connected Serenity's wrists to the tree to which she was tied. She yanked the rope and sent Serenity stumbling first to her knees and then to her feet.<p>

"We have work to do," Ann said as she separated the rope from her prisoner and her post. She indicated for Serenity to walk in front of her and followed until they arrived where the smoky remains of the dwindling fire sat.

"We like porridge for breakfast," the girl said, pointing to a sack of oats and a haphazard pile of mismatching bowls and spoons. "You'll have to restart the fire to boil the water."

"My hands," Serenity looked down at the rope. "I would be able to cook more easily and safely if my hands were not bound."

"Safer?" Ann laughed. "What's so unsafe about that?"

Serenity raised an eyebrow and pointed to the fire. "Forgive me if I'm wrong, but isn't there a possibility of the rope on my hands catching alight? If I were to burn my hands or drop the boiling water on someone, then there would be a problem, wouldn't there?"

Ann pursed her lips and wore an expression that said she was not pleased at being proven wrong. She reached for her knife and in a flick with speed that even Serenity had not been prepared for; she slashed the binds between Serenity's wrists. She sat down on a rock nearby and picked up a thick branch, snapping some pieces off and settling down with her knife again. "I'll be watching you," she said as she began whittling.

Serenity bowed her head and set to work, preparing the breakfast for the group of men that had wanted her either dead or for their own pleasures the night before. She pulled a maggot out of the bag of oats as she went to pour it into the pot of water and cringed. She was starving and even the porridge was starting to look appetising. Although the bowls looked like they'd seen worse days.

"Is there water nearby?" Serenity asked as she tried in vain to scrape away some hard-stuck food scraps from one of the bowls with a stick.

"What?" Her amber eyes narrowed. "Why do you want to know?"

Serenity held up her handiwork. "I thought I might try to wash these after breakfast."

Ann snorted. "What do you want to wash 'em for?" She smiled patronisingly, showing off her teeth, which in daylight were revealed to be rather dirty and pointy. "You aren't getting all high and mighty on us now are you, princess?"

Serenity sighed, knowing it was pointless trying to argue her point and turned back to the pot on the fire to stir when a delighted howl caused her to almost splash the boiling water on her hand.

"Time for feeding!" a short and grubby man yelled gleefully, rubbing his hands together and diving to sit on the floor by the fire. Serenity held back a retch as she saw his missing and yellowing teeth.

"Oi," another man called as he ran to the camp. "Lads, it's breakfast time!" More male cheers followed and soon Serenity found herself surrounded by an audience, eagerly watching as she distributed the porridge into the eight bowls. She passed the bowls out one by one, which caused a new fight as the men clambered for their food, each yelling either that someone got more than he or that he deserved to have his first as he was more important or stronger or smarter or deadlier with a weapon. When Serenity came to the last bowl, she realised there were two men standing before her with their hands outstretched.

"But surely one of you have already eaten," she told them. "I only have one bowl left and there are two of you standing here." The men glared at each other before reaching for the last serving of porridge.

"It's mine," they both said at the same time. The shorter, pudgier one glared up at the broader one.

"No, Darren," he said. "It's mine. You've already eaten."

"Have not!" the larger man cried in outrage. "You have. Look how porky you are." He pointed to the smaller man's rotund stomach. The smaller man grabbed his outstretched finger and twisted it away from him. Serenity jumped as she heard the loud crack of the bone breaking.

And then the pair dived to the ground, punching and rolling and kicking and yelling. Serenity started back, fearful of their rage and almost knocked into Ann, who stood with her hands on her hips glaring murderously at the sight before her.

"Stop it," she snarled. "And get up."

The fight continued and the pair of wrestling men ignored her. One of the other members of the group sniggered into his porridge, which was half dripping down his chin.

"They ain't gonna listen to you," he said through a mouthful of food. "You ain't Alan."

Serenity shrank back at the sudden blaze of fury across Ann's face. She stepped over the fire and strode over to the eating man who dared mock her, grabbing his front with both hands and shaking him. He dropped his bowl and opened his mouth to complain when Ann threw him backwards, sending him sprawling in the dirt.

"Talk like that to me again and you will be sorry," she said before turning on her heel and attempting to stop the fight again. When that didn't work, she grabbed the still-hot pot of boiled water and the remains of the oats and threw it on her comrades. They each howled in pain and ripped from each other to roll in the dirt, clutching at their faces.

"Enough," Ann said. "Patrick broke his bowl yesterday afternoon, did he not?" she spoke to the group. "Where is he?" She reached in and ripped a man from the crowd by his ear. "You clumsy oaf! And now you have had breakfast with another bowl, have you not?"

"She's lying, she's lying!" the man cried as he waved his arms around in the air. "Help me, ow, tha' hurts!"

"Get up," Ann said to the men moaning at her feet. "And clean this mess." She indicated the pots and bowls which had been kicked around in the scuffle. "When Alan returns, you had better hope to god that your behaviour will be deemed excusable in his eyes. But it is not in mine."

She spun around, grabbing Serenity roughly by the wrist and pulling her away from the rest of the group. As they marched through the trees, Ann grabbed an axe planted in a tree trunk and continued silently until they reached a clearing.

She handed the axe to a bewildered Serenity. "We need more logs for the fire," she said, shaking the axe, whose blade waved dangerously close to Serenity's face. Serenity gulped and reached out a shaky hand to take it.

"I thought I wasn't allowed a weapon," she said nervously. Was this some kind of test?

"That's in front of the others," Ann sniffed. "Those idiots are never alert enough to look around them. Just here with me is fine." She flicked out her knife. "If you tried to take me on, you'd regret it." She plonked herself at the base of a large oak tree and picked up a broken branch. She started cutting into it with the ease and dexterity of someone who'd been doing it countless times over a number of years. She raised an eyebrow and glanced up at Serenity, a curl of wood shaving dangling from the knife like that of an apple skin. "Well?"

"I'm to cut logs for the fire," Serenity said, wanting clarification. "Where do I get the logs?"

"Are you daft?" The knife pointed to the trees behind Serenity. "Are you expecting a log fairy to appear out of nowhere? You cut the damn logs yourself." Ann gave a low whistle. "You may be a princess of airs and graces but surely you ain't that stupid. Learn some life skills."

Serenity heaved a deep sigh and turned to the thinnest tree she could see. She walked up to it and whispered a quick prayer that the tree forgive her before swinging the axe with all her might. It slammed into the trunk and Serenity lost her balance, falling to her side. Ann laughed loudly and cruelly from where she sat.

"In all my time in the forest, I have never seen a funnier sight," she cackled. "Don't swing too hard or when the axe lands, you'll keep swinging."

"Your advice is a bit late," Serenity mumbled under her breath.

"What's that?" Ann's voice carried a sharp note that reminded Serenity of dogs when their hackles had risen.

"I said thank you for the advice," Serenity turned and said. She pushed herself to her feet, feeling her knee crack unpleasantly. She tugged at the axe until it gave free again and steadied herself for another swing.

"So who is Alan?" she asked as she focused on the mark she'd already made in the tree. "And how come he's your leader?" So far she hadn't been able to detect any leader quality such as brute strength or skill with a knife. And yet he had everyone's attention at his soft commands, judging from what she'd seen last night.

"You ask too many questions for a slave," Ann said. Serenity swung, missing her mark but making an equally deep one just above it. She tugged the axe free again and prepared for her next attack. "But he's my brother if you must know."

'That explains a lot,' Serenity thought, brows furrowing and grip tightening in anticipation for another swing. 'Ann has high status in the pack order but Alan still listens to her.' She shifted her weight and channelled it into the tree again. The pair did not speak for several minutes after that.

"Your story last night," Ann said as she watched Serenity hack away. "About the brother and sister. I fell asleep pretty quickly. Tell it to me again."

"There once was a brother and sister," Serenity began through gritted teeth. "And they loved each other very much."

"No, no, no," Ann interrupted. "I already heard that part. Start - start at the part where the new friend came in to it. I don't remember the name."

"Endymion," Serenity said. "His name was Endymion."

"Interesting name," her companion said. "Sounds like a prince's name to me. He your friend?"

"He wasn't a prince," Serenity kicked at the tree hoping she'd made enough of a dent in it to stop cutting. A pain shot through her leg and the tree stubbornly remained standing upright. It didn't even sway at her touch. "He was an ordinary boy. He was clever, witty and loved his grandmother. But he was just as important as a prince."

"You speak like you knew him," Ann sounded amused. "Tell me, did you know him?"

Serenity spun around, clutching the axe before her and glaring across to the other girl. "I think now it is you who asks too many questions," she spat, her eyes unwavering from Ann's gaze.

A corner of Ann's dry, cracked lips quirked. "Touched a sore spot, have I?"

Serenity suppressed a growl.

"Well what are you going to do?" Ann laughed. "You certainly can't try to hurt or kill me with your axe. It may be sharp and big but it is heavy and you are small. You will be slow to strike and I can surely slit your throat, eyes and mouth before you even get close enough to make impact."

Serenity was breathing deeply, feeling the rage unfurl in her stomach, climbing up higher and higher in her body. She wanted to hurt Ann. She wanted to make her feel pain for laughing at the memory of Endymion.

"Know," Serenity finally said in a ragged voice. "I know Endymion. Not knew. Know."

And she turned on her heel and returned to her cutting with renewed fervour. In minutes her anger had transferred through the axe and into the tree, which fell back down to the ground in a slow, wide arc.

"So what happened?" Ann asked again as Serenity placed a foot on the tree and began hacking away again to make a smaller cut.

"Something made him act horribly," the blonde said as she worked. "He fought with his best friend, he became cruel and uncaring to his loved ones, he made new friends with awful boys in the town... And then he disappeared. Just disappeared like smoke."

"You were the best friend." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yes."

"And you knew each other... from wealthy society? From little prince and princess school?"

"I told you," the blonde glanced sharply at the auburn haired girl. "I'm not a princess."

Ann smirked and tugged at one of her sleeves. "And I'm a seamstress."

"They were a gift," Serenity implored. "From friends I met on my journey to find Endymion. The coach and the guards too. They were gifts."

Ann opened her mouth to reply when suddenly the sound of clanging metal surrounded the pair.

"What's that?" Serenity shouted over the noise, throwing the axe down to cover her ears.

"Intruders," Ann shouted back with malicious glee. "On the road."


	18. The Mysterious Stranger

**AN: **From the sounds of it, everyone is enjoying the story so far and that's what I like to hear... or, well, read. Makes me feel like I'm not writing this just for myself! Kk, enjoy guys.

Thanks to Kaitlyn and Naoko and Hans (Hans? Hans Christian? What is his first name?) for their input to the creation of this story. You guys are great.

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><p><strong>The Mysterious Stranger<strong>

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><p>Ann grabbed Serenity and pushed her back into a tree while crouching low and glancing left, right, left, right, like a bird. She grabbed the rope from the ground and lengthened it from its wrist binds.<p>

"Stay there," she told Serenity before darting away. Serenity barely had time to turn her neck before Ann was back again, and then gone, and then back. She was tying Serenity to the tree.

"Stay there," Ann repeated as she tied the knots over Serenity's middle. "Stay quiet, stay unseen." And then she disappeared.

"Oh great," Serenity said once Ann was out of sight. "I'm to be left here tied like an animal, a complete free-for-all should any hungry wolf or bear come sniffing past..." She froze and strained her ears. That's right - there could be wolves or bears lurking about. And she was only going to attract their attention making noise. The small girl pushed herself back into the tree and tried to appear as nonexistent as possible.

But then she got bored. She'd been left for some time with no guarantee that Ann would even come back. And if Ann was killed, what was to stop the rest of the men of the camp from using her for their own evil intentions? Or what if all of them were killed and a new gang of bandits took their place; crueller and more savage than the first lot?

"I have to get out of here," Serenity whispered to herself as the realisation struck her. "I can't die here. Not with Endymion out there needing my help!" She struggled against her binds, wincing at the rope burns on her forearms and the cuts on her elbows from the tree's harsh bark.

She bent one leg so she was angled diagonally right towards the ground. Several minutes of muffled shuffling ensued as she inched out of the rope as painstakingly slow as she could manage, so she could still hear of any approaching footsteps.

Serenity gasped as her exertion reached full point and dropped to her knees, free from the rope. She massaged her arms but her injuries would have to wait until later. She had to retrieve her bag before she made her escape. She carefully bent down to pick up the axe with one hand as she listened intently and watched for a sign of movement. The strain was starting to get to her. The anxiety of not knowing what was out there clawed at her throat.

She jogged back to the camp. She knew she was on the right track when she heard raised voices, and slowed down. Ducking behind trees and crawling between undergrowth, Serenity inched her way closer until she could hear.

"He killed Samson," one male voice yelled. "He deserves to die!"

"You want to leave a bloody trail everywhere you go?" a throaty female voice demanded back. "Kill everyone on sight?"

"What," sneered the man. "You want to keep him as a pet too? You can't hog them all, Ann! I say we kill him!"

"You will do no such thing!"

"Says who?"

"I do and if you want me to take that from a threat to a promise then be my guest. I will just as happily cut off your arm piece by piece if you so much as cause him an injury."

"What're you doing sticking up for him? You going soft on us, woman?"

**SMACK!**

Serenity poked her head out from behind her hiding spot to see the broad man with the tangled black beard clutch his reddening face, shaking with rage and glaring in silence.

Serenity followed the scene to see several of the group crouched around something she couldn't quite make out, and a stony faced young man tied up by the fire. Serenity watched his eyes dart around and, seeing that no one was apparently paying him attention, slip a knife from up his long dark sleeve and swiftly cut the rope around his wrists. He then proceeded to slowly get to his feet and creep towards Ann, who in her argument with her fellow bandit, had her back to him.

At the last second, just as the man started running and yelling with his knife held high in the air and poised to take a life, Serenity jumped out from behind the tree and, closing her eyes, swung the axe down as hard as she could.

The heavy thud at her feet told her she'd hit her mark.

"Drop it," Ann ordered heavily, and Serenity had to peek open an eye to see to whom she was speaking to. An elaborately carved knife glinted in the sun under her nose. Ann's dark eyes were clouded with anger. "I will not tell you again," she repeated. Serenity released her grip on the axe and sent it tumbling to the forest floor.

"Did you save my life?" she asked in a deep, quiet voice. Serenity was now well aware the forest was all silent and the bandits were all watching her now. The man lay by their feet without movement, having been thumped with the wooden base of the axe that now lay beside him.

"Yes," she said in a voice that broke.

"Why?" Ann narrowed her eyes.

"He was going to kill you in cold blood."

Ann resumed her loud volume. "And you thought that by saving my life, I might spare yours and set you free?" The group sniggered and guffawed at this.

"No," Serenity said honestly. "It was just the right thing to do."

At this, Ann had no answer, so she pocketed her knife and ordered some of the men to retrieve the logs for the fire from the clearing. Another pair she ordered to rid the body from the campsite and skin it. "We'll be having lots of meat tonight," she told them with a grin that revealed her pointy teeth again.

In all this flurry of excitement, Ann did not look at Serenity once more.

* * *

><p>"Why didn't you want to kill the man?" Serenity asked as she ate her dinner, eyeing the prisoner that was tied to a nearby tree. He kept slipping between consciousness and some of the men had found it funny to prod the large bump on the back of his head whenever he woke<p>

Ann bit into her meat, the juices running freely down her chin. Serenity shuddered at the image as the firelight created a frightening orange glow on her companion, making the red seem deeper and more vibrant a colour.

"It wasn't the right thing to do," she said in a mocking voice that said she was quoting Serenity from earlier that morning. Serenity returned to her porridge, expecting to not receive a real answer.

"We wouldn't have kept him around," Ann said. "Probably would have kept him alive a day or two at most, but I..." She glared at the ground and turned away so Serenity couldn't see her face.

"But you...?"

"I was keeping him alive in case it was your friend, the one you were looking for." She kicked a log towards the fire. "I didn't want you whining about how we'd killed your prince if you'd come all this way looking for him." She laughed. "But you killed him yourself so I guess that answered my question."

Serenity looked away, not wanting to be reminded of what she'd done, when she noticed something. One of her most persistent admirers was not present at the meal.

"Where is the man with the eye patch?"

"Killed at the ambush," Ann said, shrugging. "I don't care. It's hard to miss him."

"But he was your friend," Serenity said, blinking. "Your comrade at least."

"Comrade," Ann squinted and tilted her head to one side. "Hardly. More like a thick-headed vulture. Friend," she tilted her head the other way. "I think not. No, no he will not be missed. By me at least."

"Where's Alan?" Serenity asked, deciding to try her luck and see if Ann would trust her enough to tell her.

"Out fencing the gold your coach gave us."

"You're trying to fence off a coach? Don't you think that'll be a bit suspicious?"

"We've broken it into smaller pieces and we'll fence over time. Besides, Alan's very smooth with the market people. Nobody will think to question where he got it from."

"Oh," said Serenity, her hope dwindling. There'd be no way Amy or Greg would know what happened to her now. Not for a while, anyway, when they started to wonder why their coachman and guard hadn't come back.

She was going to need a miracle to help her now.


	19. The Pet

**AN: **Enjoy!

* * *

><p><strong>The Pet<strong>

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><p>It did take several weeks for Ann to trust her completely, leaving her unguarded and untied for large periods of time. And Serenity relished those few hours of freedom, where she could rub her sore wrists and chop up wood in the deserted clearings in peace. She took to singing because whilst the solo activity was certainly freeing in that she didn't feel watched or caged, the eerie silence that was only broken by her axe thudding into thick bark or her grunts of exertion were unnerving.<p>

She hadn't sung in years. Not since she was younger. Before what she now called the Endymion Era. So that would be BEE - Before Endymion Era.

Sometimes if she was singing too loudly or concentrating too heavily on her task at hand, she would hear Ann approach and her singing would either cut to an abrupt stop or end in a shriek that sent the birds in nearby trees flying. Sometimes she thought Ann did it to harass her; other times to hear her. Ann would have this calculating and transfixed look upon her face whenever Serenity caught a first glimpse of her. Like Ann wasn't used to such a simple and soft sound.

"Why do you sing?" she'd once asked as she sat down against a tree and pulled out her trusty knife.

Serenity was skinning a rabbit for the stew that was their dinner. "Why do you cut up pieces of wood into figurines when you don't think anybody is paying attention?" she asked in return. Ann's thumb pressed over the top of her handiwork, snapping the thinnest section where the neck would have been. She looked away moodily.

"Don't you ever sing?" Serenity asked.

"No," Ann said firmly. "I do not sing and I shall like to think I never will."

"Singing can be such a nice and relaxing pastime though," Serenity tried to argue, but Ann wouldn't hear of it.

"Tell me a story," Ann said, because Ann knew that it was painful for Serenity to talk about her past and she used this technique whenever she wanted Serenity to stop talking about whatever it was she was talking about at the time.

Serenity heaved a heavy sigh and pursed her lips. "No," she said. "I don't want to. You tell me a story."

Ann looked displeased. "I don't know of any stories," she said. "You tell me yours now." She pointed her knife in Serenity's direction, but Serenity felt secure in her knowledge that Ann would not harm her. While Ann may be ill tempered and quick with her knife, she wasn't all that unkind. And as Serenity was her only friend, she felt safe in that if she were to die there in that forest, it would not be at the hands of Ann.

"You live in the forest with a group of men, and you rob rich people of their things to survive. Surely you have some stories. Funny ones, sad ones, happy ones?"

"I don't have any stories," Ann repeated, avoiding Serenity's eyes. "Stop asking or I shall slit your throat and you shall be dead before you even hit the ground!"

"You and I both don't believe that," Serenity said as she slid the chicken into the pot. "Come on, tell me a story."

"It won't be very good," Ann warned in a haughty voice, her shoulders tensing up. Serenity smiled encouragingly at her and held her gaze for several seconds until she huffed and picked up another piece of wood. She tilted her head as she started cutting into the edge with ease.

"A few years ago, I forget how long so don't ask me," – she glared to make her point –"it was a routine ambush and Alan's warning system had gone off so we all took to our hiding places around the road. We waited a few minutes which we don't usually do on account of the coaches coming through pretty quick. And then nothing was coming so we decided it must have been a false alarm. But Alan's system had never gone off before unless it was a coach so we knew something was up."

"Eventually the men all left because they didn't like waiting around so long. Alan went off to check the trigger to make sure it wasn't broken and I stayed put, hiding in the bushes. Once everybody had left and it got quiet again, I heard it. Soft clopping noises. Like hooves. But it was too heavy to be a deer, and not heavy enough for a horse. You know?" Serenity nodded and Ann began gaining stride in her story. She smiled in a proud sort of way.

"Anyways, I waited behind the bush and what do you know? This thing that looks like a deer is coming down the road. It was slightly bigger than a deer but it had the same kind of antlers, all twisted like. But it was very clean, which was odd since you don't see too many clean deer running around these parts of the forest. Nah, I reckon I'd say it was almost white. And when it got closer, I could see it properly and I realised it was a reindeer. Like them ones from the stories you tell the kids about Father Christmas and his sleigh."

Serenity closed her eyes at this, remembering her childhood when life had been such a better time. No pain, no anguish. Just fairy tales and myths told by parents which were taken as fact. The trusting naivety of childhood.

"And I couldn't believe my eyes. I had my rope with me and I knew I'd probably never see one again so close, and as soon as it passed by, I jumped it and tied it up. I was going to keep it as a pet." Ann puffed out her chest and her proud smile widened, revealing her pointy teeth. "I still got it."

"You what?" Serenity could hardly believe her ears. A reindeer? Tied up in a forest? It'd be prey to the first carnivore that walked past it. Unless it was already dead from starvation or cold and was being eaten by ants and other small creatures. "Is it alive?" she choked.

"Oh sure," her companion said with a dismissive nod. "You probably almost seen it yourself."

"When?" Serenity wracked her brains but she couldn't remember ever having seen a white reindeer.

"That time I took you to my cave to swap clothes. I keep all my pets in there."

"You have more than just the reindeer?"

"Yeah. I like to collect the interesting stuff."

"Aren't you afraid they'll die in there? Or go blind because of the dark? Do you feed them?"

"Of course I feed them," Ann snapped. She paused. "When I remember about them." She glanced curiously at Serenity, and Serenity recognised the calculating expression well. "Do you... do you want to see them?"

"Yes!" Serenity cried, already thinking of ways to set them free in the future and yet make it look like an accident.

The sounds of the men returning from their hunt were heard from the distance and the two girls snapped their heads up.

"After dinner," Ann said in a low voice. "When they're all asleep."

* * *

><p>Serenity cracked her eye open at the first snore. The men had been extra rowdy tonight on account of the wine that Alan had brought back for them. Of course, the more they kept drinking, the more energetic their advances on Serenity had become. But she was used to fending them off by now and had gained courage in saying no. She even felt comfortable with threatening them with a knife if they so dared as to actually touch her. Not that it ever came to that.<p>

But of course, what goes up must come down and after the loud and festive dinner of wine and rabbit and cabbage stew, the men all dropped off to the land of dreams one by one until it was just Ann and Serenity left, who pretended to join their group in sleep. Serenity could not understand how the men could sleep. They all had blankets, it was true, but the temperature was starting to drop little by little every night. When she'd been given Samson's after his death, initially she had been repulsed by the idea of sleeping under the same blanket as he had. But with the cooler temperatures and her body's exhaustion begging her to let it sleep trouble free, eventually she succumbed and curled up under the itchy fabric. She shivered as the icy fingers of winter crept themselves over her exposed shoulders and in between her shoulder blades, poking at her most skin and causing goose bumps to erupt wherever they touched.

Serenity met Ann's eyes, which were strangely alight and they crept to their feet, brushing off the dirt and hugging their blankets to their shoulders. Serenity followed Ann, both their eyes already adjusted to the dark, and in silence they stole off into the night. As they approached the cave, Serenity's eyes widened slightly in fear. She was already having trouble seeing a foot in front of her, how would she be able to see, let alone cope, in a pitch black cave?

But Ann was already one step ahead of her, lighting an oil lamp that was leaning against the large protruding rock. It took Ann less than a second to light it, but several for the girls' eyes to adjust to the sudden flare. Then Ann's look of pure glee came into focus and Serenity followed her into the cave. As they walked, their muffled footsteps echoed all around them, and noises from the very end of the cave greeted them in answer. Serenity could hear frightened scuffling, heavy breathing and the telltale clip clop of nervous hooves.

She saw the glowing white loom in the dark ahead of her even before the lamp's light reached it. It was a majestic creature, with a large and strong body and proud posture. She imagined how beautiful it would have been had it been a free reindeer, roaming the forest in the sunlight and eating as much as it wanted.

It shuffled back nervously, but it was already bumping back against the wall and had nowhere to do.

"Hey," Serenity whispered soothingly, holding its frightened gaze with her encouraging one. It looked so helpless, she felt her heart breaking. "I won't hurt you. See?" She stopped a few steps short of the creature and held out her hand, palm facing up and waited. Her smile did not falter, nor did her soft blue eyes break contact with its bright green ones. She waited for what felt like an eternity before the reindeer gracefully took a step towards her, drew to a fuller height and closed the distance between them.

"Hey there," she said again in her soothing voice as she stroked its nose. "I'm your friend. I won't hurt you," she repeated.

"Oh good," Ann said in a light but bitter voice. "I think the others are dead." She held up the lantern and peered down at the ground where a couple of ferrets could be seen lying immobile. She stepped closer and there was a high pitched yelp of pain. "Well, most of them," she amended.

Serenity leant her head into the reindeer's neck, feeling its pulse thudding against her skin. She continued to stroke its nose softly. It had been so long since she'd been able to enjoy a nice embrace or a sense of comfort that was a direct result of another creature.

"Ann," she said as she stepped back and began running her hand across the reindeer's long body. She could feel bones jutting out sharply under her gliding hand. "You have to set them free."

"No I don't," came the childish reply.

"It's the right thing to do."

Ann's expression turned sour. "I brought you here to show you my pets, not let you tell me what to do. We're leaving."

"Ann," Serenity started but Ann was already walking out of the cave, her lantern bobbing further and further down the passage, leaving Serenity in almost darkness. She hugged the reindeer, silently promising it she would visit it again and she wouldn't forget. It shivered under her touch and Serenity shrugged off the itchy blanket from her shoulders and draped it over the reindeer's back. "It's not much," she whispered, "But it's something." The bright green eyes glowed slightly in the dark in a way that almost said it was thanking her. Serenity felt that the reindeer understood her words. And then she took off running lightly back down the cave after Ann.

They didn't return for a couple of days, as Ann was in too bad of a temper to allow the subject to be brought up again. It was only when Serenity reminded her that a beautiful creature like that, and the others she had tied up in there, needed to be fed and watered if they were to be kept alive that she reluctantly agreed they'd visit them again.

Serenity worked harder than ever that day, helping the men put up shelters for the wind and snow which was starting to sprinkle occasionally throughout the day, but never enough for it to settle in large mounds on the grounds where they slept. She scrubbed the pots clean with the leftover water that the men brought back from the nearby village and cooked the fish for dinner to such a concentrated perfection that the males even forgot to leer at her and gave her a half decent compliment of content silence. Serenity was pleased at this.

That night, when she and Ann were certain that the group had fallen asleep, they took off once more for the cave, lighting the oil lamp and entering the darkness. It was slightly warmer in the cave as there was no wind, although the chill was certainly there in the icy stone walls and dark abyss that surrounded their small lantern.

Serenity rushed back over to the reindeer, stopping just shy of it and allowing it to choose to come to her. It did so willingly, like it was glad she'd returned like she promised, and nudged its face into her neck.

"Hey," she whispered happily. "I told you I'd be back, didn't I?" She glanced back at Ann. "Why don't you come and pet it? Its fur is lovely and soft."

Ann made no movement, other than her eyes shifting from regarding the animal to the human. The reindeer in return shifted its weight to its back legs, further away from the bandit girl.

"Now, now," Serenity said. "She won't hurt you. Ann, you won't hurt it, will you?"

"I don't want to go near it."

"But it's your pet, isn't it?"

"It'll jump at me or bite me."

Serenity continued to calmly stroke the reindeer's nose, feeling it tense under her touch. "I don't think so. Besides, it's just as afraid of you as you are of it."

"I'm not afraid."

"Well then why don't you come over and see how gentle it is. Look, it's looking at you."

"Because it wants to know where to jump or bite me."

Serenity couldn't believe what she was hearing. Ann, who was so comfortable wielding a knife and threatening to slit people's throats, who broke up full fights between grown men with boiling water and had one of the most authorial figures in the group was afraid of a reindeer. She sounded like a little girl, and Serenity realised it was because she was.

Not physically or psychologically of course, but emotionally.

Ann had never had a friend or pet before. But this would cure her.

"You must go to her," she whispered into the reindeer's ear, hiding her mouth from Ann's view. "She is frightened and you could fix that. Go on. Go on." Her urging was understood and the reindeer took a slow step in Ann's direction. Ann's amber eyes widened with fear and she looked to Serenity.

"It's coming towards me," she said in a strangled voice. "It's coming towards me and wants to kill me." Her hand flew to her hip.

"No!" Serenity cried, throwing out a hand. "If you do that, you'll spook it and it _will _hurt you. Just stay still. Stay still," she repeated in a calm voice, still holding out her hand. It was like trying to control two dogs with the same command.

"Come on, one more step," she urged the reindeer. "That's it. And one more."

"You're doing this," Ann's nostrils flared. "You're making it come over. Stop it, stop it now!" She stiffened as a long white nose nudged her shoulder. She was backed up against the wall and had nowhere to go.

"Put your hand out like this and pat his nose gently." Serenity demonstrated and waited. Ann's slightly trembling hand reached out and tentatively touched the reindeer's nose. At Serenity's murmured urgings, the reindeer nudged Ann's hand, and she began to slowly stroke it the way Serenity had shown.

"See, it's not so bad." Serenity said after a few minutes.

"Who said it was bad?" Ann wanted to know, starting to get some of her personality back. "I didn't say it would, it must have been you."

"Oh okay," Serenity said lightly, before patting the reindeer on the head and whispering, "Good job."

* * *

><p>They came back to the cave every night for the next three nights, with Ann slowly gaining more and more confidence in herself and the reindeer. Serenity hoped that after Ann could see that the animal was gentle and a beautiful creature, she would be more inclined to let it free.<p>

She suggested this on the third night, when she thought she heard Ann whisper something to the reindeer.

"Absolutely not," Ann said when Serenity made the suggestion. She shook her head. "Then I wouldn't have anything to pet."

"But if you set it free, then it's more likely to come back. Animals are supposed to be free, Ann. Like you and me."

"You think you're free?"

"In a manner of speaking, I suppose. I have shelter from the cold, food in my stomach, air to breathe. There's more to freedom than just being able to go where you want."

"I want freedom to pat my reindeer," Ann sneered. "That's the same thing, isn't it?"

"It's not," Serenity said sadly. "You have grown attached, surely? Then you must want it to be happy and free."

"It's happy with us."

"Ann, it's going to die here. That's not right."

"What is it with you and what's right or wrong?" Ann exploded, her voice bouncing off the walls of the cave.

"It's what I believe in. You believe in robbing from the rich to survive, don't you?"

"I also do it for the thrills."

"So that's all you believe in? You don't have dreams or hopes or ambitions? This is what you want your life to be?"

"There's nothing wrong with my life. I'm content where I am, which is more than I can say for you. You allowed yourself to get captured and lost your precious Endymion in the process. It's been weeks, he's probably dead by now if not long ago."

Serenity felt a large lump in her throat. Ann had brought up something that crossed her mind constantly. Who was to say that Endymion was still alive, other than that feeling in her heart? Perhaps that self-assurance was really just her mind's way of making the pain easier, realising that she would never see Endymion again, but letting her still believe that he was alive.

"That was cruel," Serenity said in a low voice once she'd swallowed the uncomfortable feeling in her throat.

"Well it's true."

"I know Endymion's alive and I know he's out there, just waiting for me to rescue him from whatever situation he's found himself trapped in." She ducked her head into the reindeer's neck for comfort, breathing deeply to rid the tears that had sprung up in her eyes.

"How can you be so sure?"

"I just know. I can feel it."

"Do you love Endymion?"

Serenity nodded. "Like a brother."

"I don't think so," Ann said. "I think you love him more than that. I may love my brother, but I would never be able to tell if he was alive simply by feeling, and I probably wouldn't spend so much conviction on finding him."

"That's where we're different," Serenity mumbled coldly into the soft white fur. "I won't stop searching until I've covered all four corners of the earth and brought him home. Wait," she jerked her head up. "What did you say?"

"You love Endymion."

"I don't love Endymion," Serenity denied, shaking her head. "Not like that."

"So you believe in all your being that he's out there somewhere waiting for you, but you can't admit that you have feelings for him."

"I do have feelings for him. He's like my brother."

Ann's slow, knowing smile turned to the reindeer. "You're lying."

"Ann," Serenity said in a warning voice.

"Serenity," Ann parroted. "All right, tell the story from start to finish and we'll work out whether or not you are in love with him. Who knows? Maybe he was in love with you, too."


	20. The Deal

**AN: **I want to give a big, excited SQUEE-shoutout to Animefangirl95 who just the other day read and reviewed chapters 1-19. It was seriously so epic waking up to so many reviews! Thank you, friend! Sorry I couldn't answer to any of your questions, you weren't signed in so there was no reply link :(

To everyone else who has reviewed over the story, I give you a big SQUEE-shoutout too. I love reviews like reindeers love lichen (they seriously love that stuff). And thanks to Kaity for her betaing help on this whole story! DID YOU NOTICE I FINALLY LEARNT TO STOP SPELLING 'ALL RIGHT' AS 'ALRIGHT'! IZ YOU PROUD OF ME? I hope you are. My thick skull keeps my brain stubborn you see.

* * *

><p><strong>The Deal<strong>

* * *

><p>The next day, when everyone was lying around the campsite, telling stories from the 'old days', Serenity was deep in thought. Did she really love Endymion like Ann said she did? It was almost hard to imagine, solely because she was so close to him she couldn't picture them together that way. But at the same time, picturing her and Endymion as a couple almost came with ease, because they were already so close, nothing much would change between them.<p>

Except there might be kissing involved, and Serenity blushed at the thought. _Her_ kissing Endymion? Was there anything weirder to imagine?

Well, there was kissing Gerald, but that was different because one, she'd already done that, and two, the thought made her want to retch so she didn't dwell on it for long.

Thinking of Gerald made her think of the last time she'd seen him, and in turn, that morning she'd left the town. Poor Joseph, having had to deal with the overly-masculine creep whose oily black hair and impossible attitude were renowned throughout the town. And yet there were many girls who admired the ground Gerald walked on, thinking him a god amongst the men. Which suited him perfectly as that was his opinion of himself also.

And thinking of Joseph that morning made her think of her parents. They must be so worried for her. She should have left a note. Why hadn't she left a note? She was so stupid. And now she was stuck a captured slave to a group of bandits in the middle of a forest with no hope of finding Endymion in the near foreseeable future. If she tried to run, Ann wouldn't just bring her back she'd make sure she never tried to leave again, and Serenity shivered at the thought of what that might entail.

Serenity's eyes drifted to Ann, who was now wrestling with Michael, the pair cheered on by the other men. Despite Michael being twice Ann's weight and as strong as an ox, Ann was light and powerful, and she was adept at making things go her way. Within seconds of Serenity's watching, Ann had Michael pinned down by his throat, the pair breathing heavily with mutual looks of disgust on each other's faces.

A shiver shot up Serenity's spine, like she was being watched. She looked around until she found the culprit, freezing up when she realised it was Alan. She hadn't had much to do with the mysterious man, but somehow when his attentions seemed to be focused on her, Serenity got the impression that he was trying to size her up. Like he was waiting, waiting for her to do or say something.

Alan held her gaze for only a few moments more before Michael's loud demands of a rematch were joined by three others, and Alan was forced to quieten them.

Serenity decided a walk would be a good idea, both to get away from the group and to shake off the weird tingling sensation in her spine that Alan's gaze had given her. She wouldn't go too far, staying within sight of Ann at all times, but she was grateful for the freedom that she had adopted as the weeks went by. She was no longer tied up, occasionally given an axe or knife for her cooking or woodwork duties, and allowed to take short strolls when she felt too cooped up.

Serenity decided she would visit the reindeer in the cave, as it was surely lonely already. And if Ann saw her walking in this direction, she mightn't check up on her at all, not wanting to draw too much attention to her cave of pets. Or pet, since it turns out what ferrets hadn't already died had escaped, having chewed through each other's ropes. Ferrets were very loyal like that.

"It's just me," Serenity called ahead in a soft voice as she approached the cave. She didn't want to startle the reindeer by coming in during the day.

And what a difference the day made. The cave was still dark, and tricky to navigate through without a lamp, but Serenity no longer felt like she was being swallowed by absolute darkness. It was a bit refreshing, and made the space feel larger and less scary.

"Hey," she said as she met the reindeer at the back. "I thought you could use a visit from a friend."

"You're very kind," a deep voice said. Serenity flinched. Her head swung around but could see no one else. She tilted her head to look the reindeer in what she imagined was its eyes.

"Was that you?" she whispered.

"It was," the deep voice admitted. "My name is Helios. I am grateful for your friendship."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Helios." Serenity bowed diplomatically. "My name is Serenity."

"I know. I have heard you and that awful girl speak."

Serenity stroked his nose. "She's really not that bad, but I can understand how you would see her that way. I'm sorry you're tied up," she added. "I'm working on it, believe me. I want to see you free."

"I am already indebted to your kindness for the endeavour, although I do not expect it to be successful."

"You will be free, I promise. If it's the last thing I do."

"Even if it means you do not find your friend Endymion?"

Serenity's senses came to a roaring stop, and then came back almost electrified. The very air around her seemed alive. "Do you know anything about where I might find him?"

"I believe I may have seen him. You say he disappeared three years ago?"

Serenity nodded earnestly. "He did but it was from my town, which is very far away."

"I thought I saw a boy of his age and description in the sleigh of the Snow Queen once." Helios' grave voice went possibly even deeper.

"The Snow Queen?" Serenity sucked in a breath. "She must have taken him! And we were so sure she didn't exist. Wait, do you know for certain it was her?"

"With a sleigh of ice and horses of silver gliding high through the air? Most certainly."

Serenity's mind turned over. Endymion's grandmother had warned them, hadn't she? It had been more than just a spooky story. It had been a tale of precaution. And he had disappeared after that sudden and harsh winter, too. The coincidence of the timing was too great. She nibbled her lower lip.

"How can I find him?"

"Her kingdom lies in the northwest mountains, hidden from view of curious eyes. The only way you can get to it is through the sky."

"The sky?" Serenity's heart clenched. "But how would I be able to do that?"

"You'll fly of course." Serenity and Helios both snapped their heads up to see Ann approach, the bright sunlight behind her casting her in a dark silhouette. "What, you're telling me he can't fly?"

"I'm a reindeer, not a unicorn," Helios said bitterly.

"Then why do all the parents tell their kids that Father Christmas's sleigh is driven by twelve flying reindeer?"

"Why do parents tell their children that if they lie, their nose will grow?"

"Touché." Ann reached out and absently patted Helios behind the ears. The three remained in silence, the girls each stroking Helios, shrouded in darkness.

"I will make you a deal," Ann said finally, breaking the silence. "If you take Serenity to the Snow Queen, which I trust you will do in good faith, I in turn will release you from my hand."

"You're going to let us free?" Serenity asked, her hand clenching her skirt. "Both of us?"

"Only if he," – Ann jerked her head to the white reindeer between them – "takes you to the Snow Queen so you can find Endymion."

"You want to help me?" Serenity asked in surprise.

"It seems like your conviction that you will find and save Endymion is too great to control, even for me. I won't get in your way if you truly believe you can bring him back. _But_," Ann emphasised the word. "You must promise me you will come back to the forest one day and tell me how your story ends. If you remain alive for long enough."

"I promise."

"You're forgetting one small detail," Helios interjected. "I don't know where the Snow Queen's palace is! The mountains are such a vast area, we'd probably die trying to find it. The only person I know who might know would be the Laplady."

"Who's she?" Serenity asked curiously, trying to squelch the building hope in her chest. She didn't want to get her hopes up again like she had with Artemis over Greg.

Helios held his head up high, and Serenity and Ann let their hands drop. "She's the one with the magic mirror."

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><p><em>Oooooh, any idea who that might be? Now, let's think for a minute... Which Sailor Moon character is well known for having a mirror? :P<em>


	21. The Escape

**AN: **Hooray for updates! I meant to upload this three days ago but as you can see, I got sidetracked. However I hope you are all enjoying yourselves as you join Serenity on her quest to find Endymion. I know I probably would have given up before even reaching Lita's cottage. I'm one of those people who get a burst of determination and then that's it. Lazy is my middle name - not really. Thank you, my wonderful beta Kaitlyn Fall for your help in shaping this lumpy clay of words into a legible string of them.

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><p><strong>The Escape<strong>

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><p>That night, the three devised a plan. Ann convinced Alan that to stave off the bitter cold, another round of spirits would be needed. Serenity had no idea what Ann had said to convince Alan, but it worked because before long, the men were drinking themselves into a stupor.<p>

"Hey there, sweet stuff." Cain sidled up to Serenity as she washed the old pots and bowls after dinner. "It's going to be real cold tonight I hear. And I know it's been hard on you lately what with your lost blanket and all. But there's always another way to stay warm, you know." He swayed closer and Serenity almost gagged at the intensely alcoholic breath that was blown into her face. But she held her composure, knowing that she her getaway would be easier if Cain drifted off to sleep on his own, rather than being incensed with her and watchful of her every move.

"Yeah, and that'll be from the roaring fire that's fuelled by your lifeless body," Ann threatened from where she sat across from the fire. Serenity had thought her deep in conversation with Alan, but Ann's timing proved otherwise.

"No need to be jealous, darling," Cain called over, before catching Alan's reproachful eye and lowering his own to the ground. "Just being friendly to our princess here." And he ambled off.

Ann gave a large and dramatic yawn, which was immediately followed by several others, due to the contagiousness that is yawning. Soon after, conversations started to lull and the men started slurring their speeches. Shortly after that, bodily crashes sounded as the group fell to sleep one by one, where loud snoring ensued.

Ann and Serenity pretended to also retire to sleep, lying awake in wait for Alan to drift off himself. He stayed up late, remaining where he'd sat from his conversation with his sister, staring silently into the fire. Serenity started to grow agitated, feeling like her escape was escaping her itself, crawling further and further away from her outstretched fingers the longer that time went on.

But at long last, Alan kicked dirt into the fire and set off for the area where he slept. Ann held a finger to her lips and remained where she lay for almost half an hour more. Then she motioned for Serenity to get up and they crept through the camp, heading for the cave. Helios was ready and waiting for them, constantly shuffling in what Serenity deemed to be nervous energy. He was so close to freedom – they both were. She could feel the excitement in her bones and it was often hard to stay still.

"Here." Ann threw a couple of small, dead rodents at Helios' feet. "Eat. You'll need your strength."

Helios lowered his head and began feeding as Ann and Serenity worked hard to undo the ropes that chained him to a large and heavy boulder. Eventually, Ann got frustrated with trying to lift the rock and gave it a swift kick.

"It wasn't this heavy before," she said after several moments of hopping on the spot and hissing in pain. She pulled out her knife and cut the rope around Helios' neck. It fell limply to the floor of the cave and the reindeer's head jerked up, sensing independence again.

Ann ducked and grabbed the blanket that had dropped to the floor. "You might be needing this," she told Serenity as she handed it over. "If you're heading north, then you'll be flying right into the snow."

"We won't be flying," Helios said before craning his neck around to see Serenity replace the blanket on his back. "What are you doing?" he asked curiously.

"You'll need it more than I," she said, giving him a soft pat. At seeing this, Ann gave a frustrated sigh and removed her own fur coat, which she hadn't taken off since she'd switched clothes with Serenity all those weeks back.

"Ann," Serenity was more than surprised. She looked at the fur that had been dumped in her arms and then at her friend. "I don't know what to say."

"Don't say anything," Ann snapped, cross again. "You and your selflessness are really annoying sometimes. Always got to do what you think is the right thing, don't you?"

Serenity rushed in to envelope the girl in a hug. "Thank you," she said over her shoulder. "It looks like you've learned how to do the right thing too. Even if somewhat unwillingly."

The blonde felt the auburn haired girl relax ever so slightly into her embrace, before she was roughly pushed away. Ann cleared her throat and avoided her eyes.

"Thanks," she said gruffly, putting her hands on her hips. "I've never had one of those before. And I certainly don't intend to again," she added forcefully with a glare. She bent down to retrieve the lamp and guided them to the mouth of the cave where she blew out the candle.

"And this is where we part," she said, extending an arm to the sleeping forest. Helios bent down to help Serenity up onto his back and bowed his head silently.

"You won't get in trouble for this, will you?" Serenity asked worriedly, thinking again about what consequences Ann would face as a result of her leaving. Though they hadn't gotten to a good start in their friendship, and Ann would often be temperamental and grumpy, Serenity did feel that over the past few weeks, Ann had thawed a little and warmed to Serenity – her first friend. And Serenity didn't want her friend to receive punishment or difficulty for helping her. "If there's another way we can do this," she started, but Ann shook her head.

"They'll not have a clue I had anything to do with this," she said as her face shifted between being casted in the moonlight's glow and the shadow of the tall, imposing trees that surrounded them. "Most of them are drunk! They won't have any idea what happened tonight and I'll simply say you ran off. And stole my coat to make matters worse. Now get going or I'll have to skin you alive." She pulled out her knife with one hand. Serenity laughed, but when Ann gave a swift slap to Helios' rump, she threw herself flat and wrapped her arms around the reindeer's neck as he started careening through the forest.

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><p><em>Again, feel free to play spot the SM reference in your reviews if you get the subtleties! Oh my god that word was so hard to write :S And doesn't it look so weird? Subtleties... subtleties... <strong>subtleties<strong>_


	22. The Return to Flight

**AN: **I'm so sad we're nearing the end. I love this story. But the end is way cool, so at the same time, I'm excited to see what you all think when... when it happens. Yeah. That's it.

Huggles to **Kaitlyn Fall **(check out her fanfics if you like my stuff! She's fantastic.) for betaing, and as usual, Hans Christian Anderson and Naoko Takeuchi for their respective fairytales and characters.

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><p><strong>The Return to Flight<strong>

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><p>"So how come you told Ann you couldn't fly?" Serenity asked an hour into their journey. "I thought all reindeers could fly." Helios had slowed from a full on sprint to a brisk jog once they had cleared the part of the forest that the bandits lived in. Serenity was surprised at the ease of speed Helios had. She hadn't known reindeer could run so fast. Especially after this reindeer in particular had been cooped up in a small, enclosed space for three years.<p>

But now Serenity could feel hope welling in her chest as the air soared through her hair and washed over her face. She still couldn't believe she was free. She had expected to remain with the bandits for much longer, but Ann's goodness had let her escape. She would definitely return some day to give her thanks, although she wouldn't do it in a flashy coach or wearing rich clothes, that was for sure.

"I... I'm not sure I still can," Helios admitted in a quiet voice, causing Serenity to bend her head to hear him properly.

"What do you mean?"

"I've been tied up in that dark cave for so long, I'm not sure I entirely remember how to do it." There was so much shame and anguish laced in his words that Serenity didn't reply for several minutes, considering her words carefully.

"Because you don't remember how, or because you can't?" she asked with a frown.

Helios' pace slowed slightly as he considered this. "Both. Neither. It's all the same, isn't it?"

"Hey now," Serenity gave a light slap to his shoulder. "None of that attitude, or of course you can't be expected to fly."

"Not everyone in this world has your conviction, young maiden," said Helios.

"That's because they've gotten used to giving up. I don't give up that easily." Serenity pulled the fur cloak around her closer and huddled into its warmth. "Besides, wouldn't you much prefer to soar above these wintery clouds and keep your hooves warm and dry? That snow doesn't look too comfortable."

"I'm all right," Helios said. "And I never thanked you, did I, for the blanket? It was impossibly kind of you to lend it to me."

"Well." Serenity pursed her lips, thinking of that dreary, dripping cave. "I'm surprised you didn't catch cold in that place. I was probably much warmer outside without a blanket than you, in there."

"To put another's needs before one's own is an admiral trait. I am deeply humbled to meet such a kind and courageous person."

"If everyone in the world was looking out for one another, I'm sure all our problems would be solved," Serenity said. "But being selfish is a human quality that we just can't shake, can we? And it has led to hatred, violence, and fighting. I suppose you've heard the story of Cain and Able?"

Helios chuckled. "I have. When man divides amongst itself, what hope is there for the rest of us animals? Slaughtered left and right."

"Then you need to be careful not to get caught again." Serenity patted Helios' shoulder. "Or you'll end up in a situation worse than simply being Ann's kept pet."

"Worse than having to hear her voice screeching from outside the cave for years on end? I can hardly imagine such a thing." He sobered. "But she never spoke to me. You did. You spoke to me like I was your friend, an equal. Why was that?"

"A friend taught me that animals are willing to talk, if only you will listen." Serenity recalled Amy and her intelligent eyes, glinting in the firelight as she gave this advice. Her heart ached slightly at the thought of her friend, but she pushed that feeling down, knowing she would see Amy once more, when she returned with Endymion. "And she was right, wasn't she?"

"Indeed." Helios slowed as the pair neared a frozen lake. They peered at the ice, but it looked thin and easily breakable. "What do we do now?" Helios asked aloud as he turned his head, looking for a way around their obstacle. The lake was so long and wide, it was impossible to even see where its edges were. It was just a vast land of ice.

"Well," said the girl on his back. "We can't go under it, and we can't go around it, that would take much too long. I guess that leaves going over it."

"But the ice looks too thin to support both our weight for even the slightest fraction of a second," Helios argued. "We would drown instantly."

"Oh, I didn't mean over it as in through it. I meant over it in another sense." She tapped her ankles over Helios' sides. "We're going to fly over it."

"We can't fly over it," Helios said. "We will simply have to find another way to Lapland. It will take slightly longer, but I do not mind."

Serenity's hand stroked the back of his neck. "Hey," she whispered. "I believe in you."

"I don't."

"Oh yes you do, you're just afraid, that's all. Come on, Helios. You've got to try. If not for me, if not for you, then for Endymion. He needs us. He needs our help. And your help is his most valuable resource right now. You don't want to let him down, do you?" Serenity hoped that by reminding Helios of Endymion's predicament with the Snow Queen, his resolve might soften. But she didn't want to lay it on too thick or her argument would fall through faster than the thin sheets of ice over the lake.

"Endymion needs my help," Helios repeated to himself. "Endymion needs my help. Serenity needs my help!" He spun around, causing Serenity to have to latch on around his neck with both arms. He raced back the way they'd come before facing the water again. Helios stopped and ducked his head, breathing deeply through his nose. Serenity was reminded of the bulls she had seen once at a farm when she was a child, huffing through their noses, eyes glaring on their target, pawing at the ground when they were ready to charge. And then Helios did charge.

Serenity flattened herself to Helios' back and gripped as tightly as she thought the reindeer could bear, watching through one barely-cracked eye as they raced to the frozen water's edge.

They were approaching swiftly, and Serenity counted down the seconds that remained until they would hit the ice.

Five... Four... Three... Two... One...

**Crunch.**

Helios' hoof cracked the ice and sank into the water, sending the pair diving forward to crash into the rest of the ice. Serenity slammed both eyes shut as tightly as she could and hugged Helios' neck for dear life. She waited for the sound of breaking ice, the inertia of the impact, the instant numbing pain that would be the frozen water as it took her prisoner and pulled her into its icy depths. But it never came. In fact, if she could feel anything, it would be the wind in her hair, which was flowing behind her in two familiar streams.

She opened one curious eye for inspection and was surprised to see she was indeed looking down at the lake. Only, from several feet in the air!

"Helios!" Serenity cried, tightening her grip momentarily to hug the reindeer around the neck before releasing him. "You did it! You did it! Look at us! You're flying!"

"_We_ did it," Helios corrected her. "We're flying." They wobbled momentarily but Helios soon stabilised and they were steadily climbing in height. "Sorry," he apologised. "Forgot what this feels like." But it soon became apparent that it was all coming back to him as he turned and curved, swooped and ducked through the clouds until they were skimming them from above. Serenity reached out a hand and felt her fingers glide through a cloud. She quickly snatched back her hand. It was like ice, only transparent. She still felt the burns the frost had left, but she hadn't physically touched anything. She inspected her hand in fascination. It was something Endymion had always guessed. Clouds were made of some sort of gas. Like steam was hot water, a snow cloud was like frozen gas.

"He always knew it," she muttered to herself. "I'll have to tell him that when I see him."

"Did you say something, Serenity?" Helios asked, turning his head and pricking his ears up.

"No," Serenity said grinning. "Just talking to myself."

"It's beautiful up here, isn't it?"

"It really is," Serenity agreed. "It's like heaven. Something that man hasn't been able to destroy yet, let alone touch. It's peaceful and amazing."

"My thoughts exactly. Ah, what a joy it is to fly again!" Helios inhaled deeply, and Serenity followed. She coughed at the cool air that streamed down her throat.

"Might not be used to such fresh air," Helios commented. "Better take it easy back there."

"Will do," Serenity coughed. When she regained her breathing, she asked, "So how far is Lapland?"

"Not far," Helios said. "Once we pass over this mountain, you should be able to see it."

"Oh," Serenity was surprised. "It's that close? I imagined it further away!"

"It would be," Helios agreed, before adding smugly, "by ground."

Serenity laughed and watched in amazement as they passed over a mountain taller than she'd ever seen before. They were so high up!

"There it is," Helios cried happily. "Lapland."

"Did you use to come here often?" Serenity asked, noting the proudness in his voice. "Before Ann kidnapped you, I mean."

"Did I come here often?" Helios laughed. It was contagious now, the happiness that had come with their freedom. It was like seeing the sun for the first time after being shrouded in darkness for a decade. It brought with it new clarity. "Serenity, this is where I was born. This is my home."

And they began their gradual descent, circling to land near a smallish sized cottage. Its brown thatched roof stood out starkly against the white of the snow, and its outside walls were decorated with fairy lights and colourful Christmas decorations. It reminded Serenity slightly of the gingerbread house from the story of Hansel and Gretel. But when the door of the cottage banged open and the house's occupant stepped out, Serenity could see that this was no Wicked Witch.

For the Laplady was beautiful. More beautiful than any women Serenity had ever come across in her life.

"Oh Helios," she greeted with a smile. Everything from her looks, to her voice, to her movements radiated the utmost grace Serenity had ever seen. "I was beginning to think you'd run away."


	23. The Laplady

**AN: **Sorry this is a few days late, I actually forgot to post this on Saturday! My bad xD But chapter 23 is now here and dandy and please let me know your thoughts on it :)

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><p><strong>The Laplady<strong>

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><p>"Come in," said the Laplady. "You look half frozen."<p>

Serenity nodded as she slid off Helios' back, instantly missing the warmth that was another's body. Her eyes streamed a bit from the constant icy wind, and if she wasn't imagining it, some of the tears were freezing as they fell down her face.

"You look like my friend Rudolph," Helios said as he eyed Serenity. "Nose just as bright as that, although his is from an incident as a calf." He waited politely for Serenity and the Laplady to enter the small cottage before following them in.

"I'll make you some tea," said the woman as she crossed the small room to enter the kitchen. She put the kettle on and turned to face her guests with a smile before she gave a small jump. "But you will not expect to stay warm for long if you insist on standing by the door." She placed her hands gently on Serenity's shoulders and steered the blonde to a stool by the fire. "You're so young," she murmured with surprise when she'd planted her guest down and took in her small frame. "And skinny. Helios, where did you find this poor girl?"

"It's a long story so perhaps we shall wait for the tea, so as not to have any disruptions." Helios walked over to the fire and stood warming his backside. He closed his eyes in ecstasy. "It has been so long since I've felt the warmth of a fire," he told Serenity in a low voice. "Not that I'm complaining, if it meant the alternative was for Ann to bring it to me. Dangerous girl." He shook his head and Serenity giggled, before hacking a cough. Helios used an antler to retrieve a blanket from a nearby armchair, holding it before Serenity. She took it gratefully, wrapping it around her shivering frame.

The Laplady returned with a tray holding two steaming mugs of tea, as well as a silver dish laden with leaves, lichen and what Serenity perceived to be several bird's eggs. After the drinks were distributed, the Laplady settled into her chair with all the ease and grace of a princess. Serenity both admired and was jealous of this.

"So you have returned," she said to Helios, who had lain down and was now crunching his way through the leaves. "It's been some time, Helios. Lapp land has not been the same."

"I was detained," Helios managed to settle for. "And yet I must comment that you do not seem surprised of my return at such time. All my brothers and sisters are surely up North by now, so you can't have been expecting company."

"True," the woman smiled. She tucked some of her long hair behind her ear. Serenity's eyes followed the graceful movement, and the beautiful wavy hair that was so unlike her own. Everything about this woman fascinated her. "But I saw you coming."

"Saw us - ah," Helios' face transitioned from confusion to understanding. "The mirror."

"What mirror?" Serenity asked when neither reindeer nor Laplady would speak.

"The Laplady owns a magic mirror that can sometimes let her see certain things."

"Helios, is there such need for formalities?" The woman gave a sad sigh. She turned to face Serenity. "You may call me Michelle, although what Helios tells you is true. I am also known as the Laplady, on account of where I live."

"But how come you live all the way out here? Don't you get lonely?" Serenity dropped her eyes as she realised what an impertinent question she had just asked. "Sorry."

"I have my friends to keep me company," Michelle said. "But Helios, I could not find you in the mirror for so long, tell me, where were you hiding?"

"I was kidnapped by a bandit girl and held prisoner in a cave for all these years. I had not seen the light of day for so long, I am sure that had I not been freed during the night time, it is possible I would have been blinded by such sudden bright light. And it is all thanks to Serenity here that I am free at all."

"Oh?" Michelle lifted an inquisitive eyebrow at her young guest. "And how did Serenity come about this?"

"I was also kidnapped by the bandit girl and her group, and was with them for many weeks before learning of Helios' existence. Ann, the bandit girl, wanted to show him off as a prize, but I saw him as the beautiful creature he was and knew it was a crime to keep him locked away. Where he was kept was awful, Michelle. A freezing, pitch black cave, with food provided only so often. I am surprised he even survived this journey."

"Without Serenity's persuading to Ann, I would not have my freedom."

"And you thought to repay her by bringing her to Lapp land?" Michelle tilted her head and blew on her cooling tea. "Helios, you know the girl cannot survive out here. Her boots are worn through as it is. Five minutes in the snow and she would lose all of her toes!"

"Actually, there's a reason for Serenity's being here..." Helios turned away from his meal and met Michelle's curious eyes with his own serious ones. "She needs to find the Snow Queen. Can your mirror tell us where she is?"

"I do not need the mirror," Michelle said. "I know by now she will be at her winter palace, and that's all the way up North. Are you sure she must?" Her eyes turned to Serenity. "Child, you must know that if you expect to seek out the Snow Queen, she shall be the last creature you see again. You won't come back alive."

"I will," Serenity said determinedly, drawing the blanket closer to her. "And even if I don't, I'd rather die trying to find someone I love than live my days a coward or a bad friend."

"Goodness," Michelle was taken aback. "Where has this come from?"

And between Helios and Serenity, the story was told of Endymion's kidnapping by the Queen, and the long journey Serenity had undertaken to bring him home. When they were finished, their teas were left finished down to the dregs, and the fire had to be restoked to keep the room warm and cozy as the chill from outside settled in quickly if it got too weak.

"Well you will not expect me to let you travel tonight," Michelle told Helios with a stern expression. "Even if you were to fly above the clouds. You need supper and rest before you continue on your way." She left for the kitchen and brought out a number of vegetables from a cupboard. "The adolescent reindeer," she explained as she held up a carrot. "They're so sweet, bringing me these vegetables as they learn to hold things with their growing antlers." As she chopped up the various foods and added them to a stew, the small hut filled with the aroma of herbs and spices. Serenity found herself almost drooling at the thought of not only food after such a long day, but also something warm in her stomach. One glance out the window at all the snow had rendered her freezing once more, and huddling closer to the fire.

The night passed mostly in conversation, as Michelle brought Helios up to date with all the news of his friends and family, and Helios admitted the neglected detail of his story in that he hadn't thought he'd be able to fly again until Serenity had encouraged him. Serenity found herself recalling fond memories of her and Endymion's childhood, realising it hurt less to think of him, now that she was so close to getting him back. The hope had sparked within her once more, and this time, it was threatening to fan into a colossal flame.

"Time for sleep," Michelle said shortly after they had finished supper. "You still have far to travel to Finland and you will need to leave early in the morning."

"I'm going to see Endymion soon." Serenity hummed to herself as she got out of her chair. "He's going to be so pleased!" And then she followed Michelle to where she would be sleeping, and didn't think for much longer after that.

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><p>"I will write you a note to the Finn woman who lives at the edge of Finland," Michelle said in a low voice. "You had better stop and stay the night with her before embarking on the final leg of your journey, do you understand?"<p>

"Yes," said Helios.

"She will be able to give you better advice on how to reach the palace than I could ever hope."

"But how will we find her?"

"When you reach the flat land at the edge of Finland, you will be able to see her chimney for miles around. You just head for the chimney until you see the house. The smoke will guide you. And she will give you all the aid she can."

"Yes, Michelle." He paused. "Do you think Endymion's still out there? Alive?"

"Oh, most certainly; if only because of the strength of Serenity's conviction. She has enough certainty in it that you would believe she's already seen him. And perhaps she will soon again."

"Have you seen him in the mirror?"

"I have not," the Laplady admitted. "But if he is with the Snow Queen, her palace will be bound to have enchantments that even my magic mirror cannot penetrate."

Serenity leaned closer to the door to hear the conversation better when the floorboard beneath her feet creaked. She jumped away from the door and yawned loudly to warn the others of her arrival, innocently entering as if she had just emerged from the corridor, and not been eavesdropping through the crack.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty," Helios said. "I trust you had good dreams?"

"Very," Serenity said. A blush crept up her neck, which she hoped neither of her friends would notice. She'd actually dreamed of her long awaited reunion with Endymion, which much to her surprised delight, had involved a long and rather... _involved_ kiss. She avoided Helios' eyes.

"Excellent. A good night's rest does a world of difference to the day ahead. You should eat and bathe quickly, for we have far to travel today."

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><p>Once again, Serenity found herself climbing aboard Helios' back, tangling her fingers in the fur around his neck and ducking her head low against the wind. The stormy gales were ice cold and she could barely keep her eyes open, they stung so much.<p>

"I wish I could offer you some new boots," Michelle said as she stared in forlorn at Serenity's shredded shoes. They had been Ann's for many years, and as such, it showed. The soles were worn through and the toes at the front were falling to pieces. Serenity's exposed pinky toe wriggled uncomfortably from the cold in the left boot. "But my feet are much smaller than your own and they wouldn't fit."

"That's okay," said Serenity. "I've survived this long with them, they're sturdy enough. I trust in them." She gave a brilliant smile to the Laplady and captured both her hands in her own. "Thank you so much for the help you've given us. I won't forget it."

"Just find your friend Endymion and that will be all that I ask."

Serenity's smile grew possibly even bigger. "Deal."

"Are you ready back there?" Helios asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be!" Serenity sang.

"I'll see you soon," Helios said over his shoulder to Michelle. "Sometime in the spring, when the river has unfrozen and my herd return to Lappland."

"I look forward to it, my friend. Take care! Safe journey!" She waved as Helios and Serenity took off, but they did not see it. Helios ran several metres through the thick, crunchy snow before taking flight, circling the small hut once before heading north. They left Lappland without looking back.


	24. The Crash Landing

**AN: **And here we meet another joyful character... Let me know what you think :)

Thanks to Kaitlyn Fall for betaing! Characters and fairytale not mine.

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><p><strong>The Crash Landing<strong>

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><p>The sun was starting to dip into the horizon, and Serenity felt her heart clench with fear. They couldn't lose the light! If they did, how would they ever find the Finn woman's house? She shuddered at the thought of being stranded in the middle of the icy wasteland they were currently flying over. They would have to find somewhere dry and sheltered to rest, because Helios wouldn't be able to stay in the air all night. He'd be empty of energy soon, despite the snacks Michelle had provided for them.<p>

Helios spoke, as if reading Serenity's mind. "We're going to have to find somewhere to stay overnight. We don't want to be stranded in the open desert at night. The temperatures will drop so low, we'll be frozen to death within a few short hours."

"Yes," Serenity agreed, scanning the area for any caves or shielded spots. She smiled wryly at the irony - her and Helios seeking shelter in a cave. She held her breath and squinted in the distance. "What's that?" She threw herself forward and extended her arm so that her point could be seen by Helios in front. The reindeer almost stumbled midair from fright, but recovered quickly and tilted his head, puzzled.

"I don't know," he said slowly. "It could be my eyes deceiving me, but I do believe we are looking at smoke emitting from a chimney."

"We're here!" Serenity clapped her hands and closed her eyes, sighing happily. "Lord, I thought we'd be stuck out here or that we had gotten lost and missed Finland altogether!"

"Reindeers do not get lost," Helios replied smartly. "I knew we were going in the right direction all along."

"Yes, I know." Serenity's hand smoothed the fur around his neck in a soothing manner. "I trusted you from the start. I'm only teasing."

Helios puffed out his chest. "I knew that."

Serenity's smile slipped a notch when her eyes flicked back up from Helios' fur to the horizon on her left. The sun was much lower than she'd last seen. "Helios," she said urgently. "Helios, look, the sun. We're running out of time! We might not make it to the house before the night falls. And then we won't be able to see the smoke."

"Don't worry," Helios said in a placating voice, soothing Serenity in turn. He bent his neck down and put on a burst of speed, causing Serenity to lurch backwards and grab wildly around his neck to avoid falling off. Her heart was pounding in her chest. Her eyes were constantly moving, glancing from the smoke, which spiralled out in the distance, to the horizon, which looked darker and more colourful with blue and pink and gold hues as time went on, to the back of Helios' head. She wanted to make sure he didn't tire himself out by his sprint-flying. The last thing she wanted was for her new but good friend to place himself in danger by trying to help her.

"You see the chimney?" Helios panted as Serenity thought this. She blinked and snapped her head up.

"Chimney?" she asked hopefully. Her eyes spotted it immediately, a dark smudge against the pure white of the ice. However, it was easy to miss, as it was also white. But off-white, almost greyish in pallor.

"It's made of ice," Serenity realised with surprise. She squinted her eyes against the wind, feeling tears streaming past as the temperature dropped further and further the lower the sun descended. "The whole... house is?" As they neared, which took considerable time as the house was still quite a ways off, she realised the house was indeed made of snow, with only a greyish tinge to the chimney and the smoke as an indication that the house was even there.

"I'm guessing the grey would be the soot from the fire," Helios said. "But how this woman can have a fire going when her house is made of frozen water is beyond me."

"It's magic," Serenity grinned, before realising that was entirely possible. Below her fingers, Helios' fur was starting to appear a light purple. The sun was almost three quarters hidden beneath the horizon. They were nearly there. "Come on, Helios," she encouraged, hating how useless she felt sitting idle while her friend gave it his everything to ensure the safety and comfort of them both. "I believe in you. You'll get us there before the sun sets, you mark my words. Hey," she added as an afterthought. "Reckon there'll be some carrots at the end of this?" Last night, Serenity had been delighted to see Helios' almost childish antics when it came to the orange vegetable. It was his favourite food, and he couldn't get enough of it. He'd kicked out his back legs when Michelle had produced several carrots for him to enjoy at dinner. It was a completely different side to him than the one she'd known since their meeting two weeks ago.

Spurred on by the thought of carrots, Helios pushed himself faster, but it was no use. The sun was inching its final descent. Sliver by sliver, it was disappearing, bringing with it darkness and feelings of despair.

"I can't see it anymore," Serenity choked out, wide eyes searching wildly through the dark for the house that blended in so well with the landscape. "Helios? Can you see it?"

"We've lost it," sighed the reindeer, slowing down to a gentle pace. One look at his face told Serenity how exhausted he was, and she felt a pang of guilt for him. She was unsure if they would survive the night, but if she was to die, she'd rather it be with him.

"We're so close," Serenity whispered, anguished. "We can't give up." But even as she spoke the words, she knew Helios was fighting to keep them in the air. The breeze was rocking them as he fought for stability. They would be down on the ground in the snow soon.

A sharp whistle pierced the air, cutting through the howl of the wind and reaching into Serenity's ear to stab at her brain like Ann's knife. Serenity and Helios looked around wildly. It hadn't been the wind; that was for sure. A large gust suddenly came out of nowhere, knocking into them from behind and sending them shooting through the air. They were propelled by the strong force as if being carried by hands. Serenity clung to Helios with all her might, afraid she'd fall and plummet to her death. The wind was so strong. Stronger than they'd faced yet.

"It's the Finn woman!" Helios cried happily. Serenity could not reply because the air had been knocked out of her lungs and she still hadn't recovered. _The Finn woman?_

The wind that was pushing and tugging and guiding them took a nosedive, sending them spiralling to the ground. Serenity recovered enough of her breathlessness to scream as they zoomed towards the thick, unforgiving ice. Her eyes were wide with fear, and she tried to close them, really she did, but they just wouldn't work for her. Perhaps they were frozen open, as the temperatures were well below freezing. Or maybe she just wasn't prepared to not see her death as it happened. It would be the last thing she saw, she was convinced. The ground rushing up to greet her and Helios as they raced at a speed that was sure to send them to the centre of the earth, where hopefully it was at least warmer.

At the last second, their nosedive balanced out, and the pair innocently tumbled to the snow, Serenity rolling several feet away. Coughing and gasping for breath at the same time, she lay face down in the snow, unable to expend enough energy to lift her face far enough off the ground to look for Helios. In less than a minute, she had had the wind knocked out of her repeatedly and it was one of the most painful experiences she'd ever had.

Over her deep-chested hacking, Serenity thought she heard an odd sound. The sound itself wasn't odd, but it was was not a sound one would be hearing after such an incident of falling from the sky. Laughter. Happy, delighted and amused laughter. Serenity's coughing died in her throat as her ears trained on the laughter. It wasn't Helios. The voice was that of a woman.

The Finn woman!

Serenity felt a surge of many emotions rise up from the pit of her stomach, unfurling and expanding as it climbed up into her chest, through her lungs and into her mouth, where a bitter taste formed. Revulsion, confusion, disbelief and anger. They all fought, clambering on top of one another, trying to be her main emotion. But the situation required them all equally.

"Why are you laughing?" Serenity heaved, but her question went unheard over the roar of the wind. In fact, Serenity was sure she was losing her senses. She couldn't see because it was now so dark; she couldn't feel as the ice was numbing every part of her body it touched; and she couldn't hear save for the wind and the laughter.

"You should have seen your faces!" the voice cackled. "As if you didn't just have the time of your lives! _What a rush!"_

"We could have died!" Serenity shrieked, pushing herself to her knees and glaring around, hoping to find the strange woman.

"Nonsense," the woman said, her voice at Serenity's ear. Serenity spun but there was no one there. It was as if the woman's voice was being carried on the wind, swirling all around her, watching her, listening for her.

"Where are you?" Serenity called, her glare melting to a squint as her dry and stinging eyes lost their battle to the wintery winds.

"Everywhere," said the voice, again by her ear. "And nowhere."


	25. The Finn Woman

**AN: **Ooooh we are getting closer and closer to the end! Hooray! Hope you're enjoying yourselves xo

Thanks to my awesomesauce BFFL Kaitlyn Fall. If you like my stuff, why don't you go check out her stories? I fell in love with them instantly and I know you will too! :D

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><p><strong>The Finn Woman<strong>

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><p>Two hands grabbed Serenity roughly by her shoulders and she was hauled to her feet. She squinted through the flurry of snow, glimpsing two things. One, a blinding smile of white teeth, and two, a shock of blue eyes standing out against the pale skin, pale hair, and pale white hood that covered the head.<p>

"You must be looking for me," the hooded person said, turning Serenity around and taking them to Helios, who was on his side.

"Could have warned a reindeer," he grumbled, glaring up at them. Serenity dropped to her knees and helped him onto his stomach, where he climbed to his feet and shook the snow from his antlers.

"You want to come inside or not?" the Finn woman demanded as Helios continued to shake his head, trying to dislodge snow from his left ear. Serenity placed her hand on Helios' back and together they followed the rugged up woman to her home.

"It's built of ice," Serenity murmured as they watched the Finn woman locate the door and open it effortlessly, though it looked heavy and sticky. "Fascinating."

"Mmm, let's just get in, shall we?" Helios said beside her. "I've got ice in my ear and my hooves are starting to freeze."

Suppressing a smile, Serenity asked "I thought reindeer could withstand such cold weather?" They entered the dwelling, which turned out to be surprisingly warmer than it had appeared.

"You look like you could use a drink," said the Finn woman. "Brandy? Whisky? What's your poison?"

"Um," Serenity said, frowning and glancing at Helios. "I'll just take a tea if that's alright. And my friend Helios here will have some warm milk if possible."

"You don't want a drink-drink?" The woman looked surprised. "You want a drink? Well, suit yourselves. Sit down and tell me where you've come from."

"The Laplady said you could help us," said Serenity as she settled herself near the fireplace, which roared heartily with life and warmth, despite being made entirely of large blocks of ice. It was so implausible that the logs the fire was burning over remained dry and yet Serenity saw it with her own eyes. In fact, though the whole house was made of ice, it was cosy and dry. _How weird_, Serenity thought. "We brought you a... note. It's rather unorthodox."

"What is it this time?" she grinned. "A leg of lamb? A turkey?" Her eyes fell on the object in Serenity's hand as she gingerly removed it from her bag. "A fish. Of course." She chucked. "She never fails to surprise you, that's for sure."

Serenity handed the cod over, watching as the Finn woman studied the message written on the frozen seafood with interest, before staking it with a nearby knife and flinging it into a pot of water in the kitchen. "That'll be great for dinner." She started making Serenity's tea. "So, you want to go to the Snow Queen's winter palace? You know she'll be there this time of year. "

"Yes, we want to find her," Serenity said as she took off her boots, wriggling her frozen feet near the fire to thaw. "That's why we've come all this way. To see the Snow Queen."

"And you... what, want to die?" the Finn woman asked half sarcastically, half serious. "Because that's what'll happen if you go. You won't be coming back. Not for all the cod in the world."

"I will," Serenity said with determination, startling Helios and the Finn woman. "You'll see."

"Well," her host said airily. "That's nice of you to think that. Brave, I suppose." Her eyes flicked to Helios."And you think Horsey feels the same way?"

"Reindeer," Helios growled at the same time as Serenity said,

"No. He's not coming. He'll be taking me there, yes, but I do not expect him to come with me."

"Of course I'm coming with you," Helios said, his chest puffing out. "You think I'm going to leave you there, alone and defenceless?"

"Like Endy wasn't?" the blonde said quietly, her serious eyes meeting his. Her poor Endymion had not had the same help she was being offered and yet she wouldn't lead her new friend into danger."Helios, I can't ask you to accompany me. The Finn woman is right, and so is the Laplady. And Ann. And Amy and Greg. Everyone's right. There's a high chance I won't come out alive, so I'm not taking that risk with you too."

"Serenity, it would be my honour," the reindeer bowed his head. "I'm with you till the end."

"No you're not," the Finn woman interrupted.

"Oh yes I am," Helios said with the same tone of determination that Serenity had spoke only moments earlier.

"This sounds to me like something Serenity needs to do alone. Girl," she said in a gentle voice, handing her a mug of steaming tea. It ticked Serenity's nose with spices that she had never encountered before. The aroma was mouth watering. A dish of similar smelling milk was placed before the reindeer. "Tell me why you wish to see the Snow Queen."

"She has a friend of mine and I want to rescue him and bring him home where he belongs," Serenity said, feeling strength shoot from her chest, travelling down her arms and legs as she said it. Already the reality was setting in. Tomorrow she would see her best friend again! And no amount of time or experience could separate them again. When she rescued Endymion, he would never be leaving her sight again.

"And how did the Snow Queen come about acquiring your friend?" the Finn woman asked curiously, sinking into a broken armchair. Serenity settled comfortably into the back of hers, feeling the warmth of the fire wash over her. Already her toes felt defrosted and her DESCRIBE ANOTHER FEELING HERE. She blinked sleepily at the woman before her.

"He was kidnapped nearly four years ago from our hometown."

"And you know the Snow Queen did it?" The Finn lady's tone showed her doubt, which was also reflected in her expression. "Forgive me if I seem ignorant, but you look like you have travelled far just to come here, so what would the Snow Queen be doing all the way over where you live and why would she want your friend?"

"Endymion is clever," Serenity said, frowning at the almost-insult. "And handsome. And kind. I have no doubt that any combination of his good qualities could have tempted her.

"Amiable qualities," the Finn woman said with a smirk. "Okay, so let's move on from there before I insult you further, yes, I can tell I insulted you," she said when Serenity made to protest. "You are very protective of your friend, I can already see that. And you thought you would fly across the country on the back of a reindeer to find your friend?"

"Actually, Serenity and I only met several days ago," Helios countered. "Before we'd been introduced, Serenity had been travelling on her own."

The Finn woman's eyebrows lifted, rising to meet her pale blonde hair. "But you're so young," she said, surprised. "You didn't think of the dangers ahead of you?"

"What dangers?" Serenity grinned. "I didn't really think anything through when I decided I was going to rescue Endymion. All I knew was that I was going to bring him home whether he liked it or not."

"Such conviction." The Finn woman tilted her head. She surveyed the young girl silently as Serenity started shedding her coat and pushing her hair over her shoulders. It was easy to acclimatise to the warmth in the house of ice, whether it looked liked it from the outside or not. "All right." The Finn woman leaned forward, elbows resting on her knees. "Tell me your story."

"Well it was my 18th birthday," Serenity started, "and a beautiful summer's day..."

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><p>"That's a pretty sad tale," the Finn woman said when Serenity had finished her recount. "And child, I've heard a lot of sad stories, being out where I am. You ever see a baby die of pneumonia? I have."<p>

"I wouldn't compare my journey to the death of a baby," Serenity said with a frown. "But now you see how far I've come, and how I'm so close to finding him."

"You don't know he's alive," the Finn woman pointed out. "But you think he is and that's enough for you, isn't it?"

"He is alive," Serenity said.

"And you've prepared yourself for any alternatives?"

"There are no alternatives," the girl disagreed. "He's alive. Trust me."

They were now eating the cod, Helios happily crunching through a few carrots and lichens. The fire crackled under the huge cooking pot that had been used for their meal and Serenity was content with everything, the food in her stomach, her aching and exhausted body now relaxing in a very comfortable chair, the warmth of the small and cosy igloo...

She was desperately trying to fight off sleep when the Finn woman put her finished plate aside and sighed loudly.

"So you want my help, that's what you're here for," she said with no uncertainty.

"Well with your magic, you can bind the winds, tie them in a bow and string them along as you like," Helios said. "If you could help us even break into the palace -" He was silenced when the Finn woman held up a hand.

"How will my magic help this young woman?" she asked. "How will the power of the wind aid her in her quest?"

"You could give her the strength of a small army to fight the Snow Queen," Helios argued. "You want to see the witch defeated as well, don't you?"

"Of course I do, but it won't do any good." She snorted before getting up and striding to the other side of the room where a collection of scrolls and books clung haphazardly to a bookshelf, as if all holding on by only the hint of a breeze. She wiggled her fingers as her hands hovered past many scrolls, before sticking her hand into the mass and emerging with a scroll wrapped in a dark blue and yellow ribbon. Serenity glanced sideways at Helios, but they both remained silent. Minutes ticked by, and Serenity was finding it harder and harder to fight off the sleep, but she had to know if the Finn woman could help her or not.

Helios cleared his throat, but the Finn woman ignored him. He coughed a minute later, but she ignored that too.

Serenity and Helios traded another glance but the Finn woman only turned around when she had finished reading. Serenity couldn't hold back the hope in her eyes as she stared longingly at the woman who had the power to control the wind.

"Well," said Helios. "Can you help us?"

The Finn woman crooked her finger at the reindeer, beckoning him to join her on the other side of the room. Suddenly, howling winds picked up outside, which Serenity took to be the Finn woman's method of shutting her out of the conversation. She watched as the two spoke through tight lips, and Helios' body language change from curious to outraged to defeated, all in quick succession. The winds died down a little.

"Serenity," Helios said as he and the Finn woman rejoined her by the fire. She was now starting to sweat slightly; it was so warm in the room. Now she understood why the Finn woman had chosen to take the chair furthest from the fireplace. "Serenity, I can't go with you."

"You what?" Serenity jumped to the edge of her chair. "But Helios! How am I supposed to make it to the palace from here? I'm going to die within an hour out there in the snow! Please help me," she begged. The reindeer dropped his green eyes to the carpet beneath their feet.

"I can take you to the palace, of course I will. You know I would get you to the Snow Queen. But I can't stay and help you."

"You must perform the final task of your journey alone," the Finn woman said.

"Why?" Serenity asked as fear began etching into her heart like cold, hard ice.

"Endymion is with the Snow Queen," the Finn woman said. "That I can tell you with certainty. But he is wholly within her power. He thinks he is happy and content where he is. His heart is frozen and he can't see the truth because he has a sliver of the Wiseman's mirror in his eye."

Helios shook his head in disbelief, but Serenity didn't know what that meant. A real mirror? In Endymion's eye? And who was the Wiseman? "What's that?" she asked, eyes flicking between the Finn woman and Helios.

"The Wiseman is a horrible creature, some say the devil himself," Helios supplied sadly. "His weapon is powerful and something you should fear. It can ruin even the happiest of men. All it takes is a fraction of it in a window or a pair of spectacles and its magic causes destruction and despair everywhere it goes."

"So if it somehow made its way into Endymion's heart..." Serenity thought back to when Endymion had suddenly changed from her caring and thoughtful best friend to a cruel and dismissive stranger who wanted nothing to do with her. "Oh no," she breathed, closing her eyes. "He was spellbound?" Her heart sank. If only she'd known! She would have tried to help him instead of letting go. He had to change back into the young man he'd been, not the horrible and destructive creature into which he'd turned. That wasn't Endymion. That was... a shell of Endymion with no real Endy inside. Serenity dropped her eyes from Helios', tears welling up.

"But you can give her some strength, right?" he asked, turning to the Snow Queen. Serenity's head snapped back up. "A - a weapon of some kind to help her release Endymion?"

The Finn woman shook her head and Serenity watched Helios grow angry. "You just want us to let her blindly walk into that palace with nothing to defend herself? She'll be killed!" He stamped a hoof.

"Does she look defenceless to you?" the Finn woman growled back, throwing a hand in Serenity's direction. "Look at her! She _is_ a weapon!"

Serenity blinked, glancing down at her hands. She had a weapon? Where was it? How could she use it?

"This girl has walked a thousand miles through bitter experience and the worst of the weather. She's survived being spellbound by an enchantress, kidnapped by bandits, and talked her way to freedom for the both of you. She only has her bag, her dress, her coat and what's left of a pair of shoes. Are you saying she has nothing?"

"I do have nothing," Serenity blinked, realising she didn't actually have a weapon like she'd previously thought. "So you can't help me? That's fine."

The Finn woman scoffed and turned to Helios. "Why have you come all this way?"

"To help Serenity," he replied without thinking.

"Why?" the Finn woman pressed in a firm voice. "You hardly know her."

"Because..." Helios' eyes widened slightly and shared a look of understanding with the Finn woman. Serenity looked wildly between the two.

"There is your answer," the Finn woman said, patting his head.

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><p>*pokes head over story* ENDYMION! I SEE YOU OVER THEREEEE *waves* ... Or do I? ^_^<p> 


	26. The Palace of Ice

:)

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><p><strong>The Palace of Ice<strong>

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><p>After timidly peeking over the horizon, the sun had begun to climb the sky. The Finn woman had insisted they leave very first thing in the morning, as daylight in the winter was minimal up North, and they'd be racing against the clock to arrive at the Snow Queen's palace while it was still light.<p>

With one easy lift, Serenity was picked up and placed on Helios' back. The Finn woman pursed her lips and crossed her arms as she stared thoughtfully at the young girl.

"You've been an honour to meet," she said. "I am proud to call you my friend."

"And you, mine," Serenity said, nodding her sleepy head at her host. "Thank you, Finn woman."

"It's Amara," replied the Finn woman as she uncrossed her arms and raised a hand. "As a friend, you may call me Amara." And with that, she slapped her hand on the back on Helios' flank and sent him shooting forwards. She raised her arms and a sudden wind swept the pair up and hurled them onwards, faster than Helios had ever flown.

"Goodbye Amara," Serenity called over her shoulder, unsure of whether she was even heard over the roar of the weather. But as the Finn woman waved back at her, she had a feeling her words had carried on the wind.

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><p>It was only just over two hours later when they arrived at the Snow Queen's palace. It, like Amara's chimney, could be seen from miles away, its glistening towers catching every ray of the sun and winking mysteriously to every eye it could meet. The shining blue-green crystal palace pierced the frozen wasteland of endless snow and ice, a beacon of colour against the otherwise bland environment. The sky above was a dirty white, as dark snow clouds hovered menacingly overhead.<p>

As they neared, Helios slowed down, eventually descending and landing by a bush with red berries. The berries, with their bright and vibrant crimson reminded Serenity of the roses that she and Endymion loved so much. It renewed her hope and gave her a surge of strength, taking the berries as a sign that Endymion must be close by.

"I must leave you here," Helios said, dipping his head. Serenity slid easily off his back, securing her bag over her shoulder and walking around to face him. Helios avoided her gaze, but she gently lifted his face. Helios' eyes, like Serenity's, were filled with tears.

"Hey," she said lightly through a watery smile. "It'll be okay. I'll be okay."

"The thought of leaving you in this place, all alone, it breaks my hearts. You shouldn't be here, Serenity."

"But neither should Endymion," Serenity said, wiping a tear from Helios' face with her thumb. "And it breaks my heart to think of leaving him in this place all alone."

"Don't make me leave you here," the reindeer said sadly, even though Serenity could tell he knew he'd have to.

"You've been such a good, kind and brave friend," the blonde whispered, leaning down and kissing his forehead lightly. "Just be brave a little longer, okay? I'll be emerging from that palace with my best friend in tow, ready for you two to meet in hours."

"I'll be waiting here," he said. "And I won't leave until you come out." Both his voice and eyes promised it.

"Well it's a good thing you've got some lunch handy," Serenity smiled, plucking a berry from the bush and popping it into her mouth. "I'd hate to come back and find you too hungry to get us back!"

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><p>Serenity stumbled through the snow, shivering under her fur cloak and teeth chattering as the damp climbed higher and higher up her dress. Her boots were already filled with snow, and she couldn't feel her toes. The thought of Endymion kept her walking. Her best friend needed her, and she would not give up on him. Not until she had seen his cold, dead body with her own eyes. But that wasn't even an option.<p>

Snowflakes drifted past her in almost a lazy manner, a stark contrast to the hard effort that Serenity was making to push past the pain and exhaustion. She remembered the times when she and Endymion had studied every snowflake they'd been able to find one winter, intent on finding two that were identical. She remembered the last winter Endymion had been home - they'd joked about that memory, hadn't they?

_"Wow" Endymion breathed as he stared up at the sky. "How long has it been since we've sat here under the oak and watched it snow?"_

_Serenity hopped off the swing and joined him at the base of the oak. She shivered and hunched into her coat, eyes still focused happily on the flurry of white before them. "Remember when we used to spend all winter, every winter for like, four years, just walking around with magnifying glasses trying to find two of the same print?"_

_"Because no two snowflakes are ever the same!" they both chorused, before bursting into laughter. They watched the snow drift down from the sky as the daylight slipped below the horizon._

Serenity smiled at the memory, lifting her head to see how much farther she had to walk through the almost knee-deep snow. She would have given as gasp of surprise had she any breath left in her, but she had none. The palace doors were in sight. She was so close. She could see the shiny white handles glinting in the sun. They were calling her. _Serenity_, they sang. _Open us_. _Enter our home_. _You'll find your friend here, we promise_.

Serenity shook her head. "I'm going insane," she whispered to herself in bemusement. "I've come all this way and I go insane on Endy at the end of the journey!" She giggled breathlessly before stopping and staring up at the great sparkling doors of emerald and sapphire crystal. The doorhandles were pearly and translucent. Serenity found them tantalisingly attractive. Mesmerising, perhaps. She reached out, grasping one with both her hands and twisting it with all her might. It was so soft, so very soft, and yet hard, beneath her hands. And slippery. Serenity wiped her sweaty hands against her only dry-remaining clothes - her fur coat - and tried again. The round sphere under her fingers made her hands look so small. She tilted her head in fascination, staring at the mesmerising splendour. She wanted to break one off and put it into her bag so that she could take it home. It would make a perfect present for her mother, she was sure. A big, beautiful pearl.

"_Stop, Serenity_," a voice pleaded in her head. Serenity smiled at the door. She knew that voice. But whose was it? Was it her mother's? No, it was deeper than that. So it must have been her father's Oh her thoughts were so cloudy and confused. "_Serenity, think..._" The girl giggled softly. What was she supposed to do again? Something with this beautiful pearly doorhandle. She... wanted to keep it right? That's what she wanted to do? But that answer didn't feel right...

A snowflake danced down into her vision, and Serenity watched in fascination as it landed in between her splayed fingers on the doorhandle. She counted its points. There were five. Next, she examined its shape and pattern. It was a very beautiful snowflake. Certainly one of the prettiest she'd seen so far. And as they were all unique, that was a rather large statement. Her eyes focused on the snowflake, watching with a grin as it melted, getting smaller and smaller until it was just a speck, and then a drop of water, which slid off its pearly, rotund host and dripped onto Serenity's boot.

_"Every snowflake is unique," Endymion boasted as he held up the magnifying glass. "That's what Gran says, but we'll prove her wrong. We've got good eyes!"_

Serenity gasped, jolting back to herself. She slammed her eyes shut and twisted the doorhandle with all her might, feeling it give way. She slid through the crack of the giant doors and didn't open her eyes again until the doorhandle was safely out of her sight.

"Freaky pearls," she muttered, heart beating uncomfortably heavy in her chest. She'd just been put under a spell, she was sure of it. And if she could easily find herself falling under spells, then she'd be no good rescuing Endymion, who was surely under several. He had to be, to be staying here with the Snow Queen. Endymion wouldn't have put up with this frozen wasteland for long. Where would he grow his flowers? When would he be able to see Gran?

She stared at her surroundings with wide eyes. She was in an outdoor courtyard, surrounded by snow-covered statues and thick pillars made of sparkling blue ice. And if her eyes weren't mistaking her, the snowflakes that were falling were quite large.

But no, her eyes weren't deceiving her. Serenity took a step back, feeling her body hit the cold door behind her. The snowflakes were rather large. And they were clumping together in a most unnatural way. Almost as if they were gluing themselves to make bigger snowflakes.

"But they look more like animals," Serenity said to herself as she narrowed her eyes and stared at the various shapes she saw forming. There were bears, growing larger by the minute, as well as birds, hedgehogs and snakes, all with beaks and quills and fangs as sharp as the deadliest knife.

They started to tumble towards her as they continued to form, closing the distance swiftly. Serenity panicked. Her heart hammered painfully in her chest and her mouth was dry with fear. What could she do? How was she supposed to fight off creatures made of snow and ice? She had no weapon, only her bag and some trinkets, which were useless against them.

Her legs began to shake, and she had to reach out to the handles behind her to hold herself up. She was so exhausted and hungry. She wanted nothing more than to just lie down in the snow and sleep. _Let it be over_, Serenity begged in her head. _The Snow Queen has won, I can't fight her._

_"You're seriously going to give up after coming all this way?"_ Endymion's voice scoffed inside her head. She sunk to her knees and stared tearfully at the oncoming creatures. _"Sere, that's pretty lazy. You've had your friends help you come all this way, and you give up after only stepping into the courtyard?"_

"Hey, these things are pretty terrifying, thank you," she snapped under her breath. But in her heart, Serenity knew he was right. Endymion sure wouldn't give in so easily. He might be afraid of things, but he never backed down when it counted. And so neither would she.

Serenity's eyes widened as she realised the animals were now almost fully formed and gaining speed. _What would Endy do?_ she asked herself.

She remembered once in school learning about how animals used things like sound or size to intimidate other animals as a defence tactic. She looked down at herself. Well, she wasn't exactly a giant bear, and the bear that was charging for her looked like it was growing by the second, so she'd have to rely on her voice. She'd try to scare them away.

"SHOO!" she shouted, pushing herself back to her feet and folding her hands into small little fists. "GET AWAY FROM ME! I'M WARNING YOU! YOU'LL REGRET IT!"

But the snow-animals just kept coming. Serenity's words had had no effect on them. Perhaps they were deaf, she thought, since they weren't real, living and breathing animals. She watched as her breath condensed in the air, misting from her yelling. The mist hung for a moment in front of her before drifting away. As it drifted towards the animals, it materialised itself into a shape of its own. A reindeer.

Helios.

The mist reindeer that resembled Helios tossed its antlers at the bear, throwing it into a pillar of ice and smashing it into pieces. It fell apart in a puff of white dust. Snow thudded to the ground, unmoving . Serenity let out a cheer, watching as mist-Helios took on a snake, stamping it in half with a hoof. It dissolved into white smoke and a pile of snow. But Serenity's cheer was also forming a new mist. This time, she could see Ann forming, complete with her trusty knife. Ann threw her knife of mist with such ease and skill that it was just like watching the real Ann. Though it looked like she hadn't aimed at all, she got a bird in the throat, sending it flying back several metres until it crashed to the ground with an explosion of dust and snow.

More phantoms were forming from Serenity's breath. Amy and Greg were there, each equipped with hunting gear, and Artemis and Luna were too. Luna leapt for the closest snake, sinking her teeth into its neck, squeezing harder when it began thrashing about wildly. Artemis took off for the birds, catching one by its wing and bringing it down within seconds.

Michelle slapped a hedgehog away with a cod fish in one hand before bringing the base of her mirror's handle down on a bear's head, splintering it to dust. Amara just clicked her fingers in an almost bored-like manner, and winds took care of the remaining animals, blowing them away until not even their snow remained. When the first mob had been defeated, more began to form, bigger and stronger than before. But the phantoms of mist took it in their stride, reaching for their bows with determination, flexing their arms or stretching their necks, hissing and raising their hackles.

Serenity felt a tear well up in her eye, and she wiped it quickly. Her friends were all fighting with her, making sure the animals could not get her. She hastened her pace and began jogging through the snowstorm, surrounded by her friends as they cleared a path for her. With her heart still thudding painfully and her mouth starting to moisten again, Serenity pushed open the doors to the Snow Queen's palace, where not one creature was able to stop her.


	27. The Prisoner

**AN: **Double whammy with the posting this morning, my friends! Happy Easter to you all *munches on chocolate om nom nom* Here's to a very exciting chapter! I'd love to hear your thoughts! xD

And naturally my thanks go to **Kaitlyn Fall**, my wonderful beta, **Naoko Takeuchi** for her epic, epic characters, and **Mr Hans Christian Anderson** because he created my favourite fairytale. You all rock.

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><p><strong>The Prisoner<strong>

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><p>Serenity tiptoed through the palace, peeking into doors and slipping from room to room as quietly as she could. As she had discovered when she took her first step in the palace, every movement, every footstep was loud and echoed. The palace was one large ice sculpture, and any noise from her might alert the Snow Queen of her arrival. Not that Serenity imagined that she could rescue Endymion and get them both safely out of the palace without running into the Snow Queen, but she wanted to put off the inevitable meeting for as long as possible. She needed to ensure Endymion was alive and well first, so that she could plan their escape.<p>

She stopped when she heard a sound that wasn't her own. That was possibly the only benefit of having the palace made of ice. Even if the Queen could hear her, she could also hear the Queen.

"I must leave you for a while," she heard as she pressed her ear against the closest wall. The words were slightly muffled, but she could still understand them. It was a woman's voice, and she seemed to be talking to someone in a syrupy sweet voice - one that Serenity usually associated with Esmeraldia.

"The Fire Mountains are looking a little dry... They are sorely in need of snow." Serenity crept along the wall, ear pressed and fingers glued to the ice. "How is your puzzle? Have you finished yet?" Serenity frowned. Surely she had misheard. Why would the Queen be asking someone - perhaps Endymion, she thought excitedly - about a puzzle? "Oh dear, and to think of what I had promised you if you could have arranged the pieces to form that one, easy, simple word."

Serenity listened for a reply, but no more was said, unless she didn't hear it. But there was a new sound now. A rhythmic beat that was clicking into the walls. Shoes. Someone was walking her way.

Serenity leapt for the nearest pillar of ice, ducking behind it and panting as silently as she could. She didn't want to be discovered, not so close to finding Endymion. She waited as the footsteps passed, and slid around the pillar accordingly to ensure she wouldn't be seen. As the steps became fainter, curiosity overcame Serenity and she peeked a look around the pillar. She was too late, for the steps seemed to be echoing from down a nearby corridor, the sound growing more distant by the minute. But Serenity had caught sight of something. A flash of vibrant red in the reflection of the blue icy walls. She waited until the sound seemed impossibly far away, and then counted to thirty for extra measure. When she was sure the person would not return, she crept out from the pillar and poked her head around another corridor. It was long and seemed quiet. Serenity strained her ears for the slightest sound, but heard none, save for her own breathing. She glanced behind her shoulder, making sure no one was at her back before taking off swiftly and silently down the long hall. She slipped on the icy ground twice, and had to catch herself on the equally slippery wall, but overall, no incidents occurred.

Serenity realised now that there was no chance of hiding anymore. There wasn't anything to hide behind, anything to disguise herself with or blend in to. Her pale white skin, her long and dirty, blonde hair, her worn brown boots and rags of a dress, her once-white-now-grey fur coat. They all stood out like sore thumbs. If anyone came down that corridor, she would certainly be caught.

A sound broke through her thoughts. What was it? She furrowed her brow and strained her ears once more but it didn't repeat. It almost sounded like a shoe scuffing on the ground, but she couldn't hear anything else from the end of the corridor, so was there someone there at all or was the sound her imagination?

She approached the doors tentatively, pushing with all her might to open it a crack, as silently as she could. There was someone in the room, a long ways off from where she was. In fact, the room was so large, it was hard to tell exactly if she was looking at a boy or a girl. The person was kneeling on the floor, sliding their hands on the ice as if looking for something. But what would they be looking for?

The person gave a frustrated scratch at the back of their head and Serenity had to hold back her gasp like she'd never had to before. Endymion used to do that. When he was concentrating deeply or was frustrated beyond words, he'd resorted to scratching the back of his head in this way that only he could do. To Serenity it was as unique a trait as the snowflakes outside.

"Endy!" Serenity breathed. "Endy!" she said louder, pushing the door open with strength that surprised her. She ran across the room, which took considerable effort and time as it was the biggest room Serenity had ever seen - and that included Amy and Greg's palace. "Endy!" she cried in a whisper, throwing herself to the ground before him and wrapping her arms around him. She began to sob, whether from happiness at finding him or sadness that he'd been alive and trapped for so long and needing her help. "Oh Endy," she cried into his shoulder, pressing her face against the somewhat familiar but now different crook in his neck. "I've missed you so much!"

She felt Endymion's arms move, and his hands snaked between them until they landed firmly on her chest and gave a strong shove. Serenity fell back, staring at the young man in surprise. He grabbed her by her arm and hauled them both to their feet. "You should be more careful you stupid girl, you nearly broke pieces of the puzzle!" Serenity's eyes snapped from his hand on her arm to his face. The face was familiar, the same dark blue eyes that had always held so much emotion, the long dark hair, the big, slightly crooked nose that had been a result from falling from a tree when they were younger, the small pink lips that had always smirked or teased or laughed at Serenity for all those years. But now, the eyes held contempt instead of joy, the long dark hair had grown haphazardly in all directions, as if chopped instead of cut properly, and the mouth was twisted into a grim line.

"You remember me, right?" she whispered in fear, wide eyes taking in every detail of his expression and trying to work out what it meant. Was he displeased to see her because he didn't know who she was, or was this something else? There was almost no recognition in his eyes as they glared down at her.

"I remember you all right," he snarled. And then it hit Serenity. The mirror. The mirror that had pierced his heart and frozen it over. She had to fix it. She had to heal him. There's no way he'd agree to come home with her in this state. "I can't believe you followed me here," he continued, breaking his grip and flinging Serenity wildly to her knees. She ducked her head, gasping as she tried not to cry. This Endymion would not listen to her if she cried, she knew that.

But she couldn't help it. All these months she had travelled to find him, when everyone else had doubted her. They'd all told her he was as good as dead, and she'd never given up hope. You'll never find him, they'd said. But she'd always known she would or die trying.

And here she was, kneeling before him as he stood like a stranger. He was there, but he wasn't. Ann was right. They all were. He was as good as dead. And she wept, because she didn't know how to bring him back. She didn't know what to do. She pushed herself to her knees once more and looked him in the eye. Endymion had always hated to see her cry, although before the mirror had pierced his heart, it had been because he couldn't bear it when she was in pain. She wondered if there was a part of him that still hated her being in pain.

"Endy," she sobbed. "Endy, please. Remember me as Serenity, your best friend. The one who cares for you most in the world. The one who loves you."

But Endymion remained silent. Serenity wiped her hands hurriedly across her cheeks and stepped closer to him. He didn't move.

"Endy," she whispered. "Endy, try to remember." Boldly, she reached out and cupped his face, her eyes searching his. His skin was ice cold beneath her touch, and a chill went up Serenity spine. Endymion's hands quickly caught up her wrists and dragged her hands away from his face. Some of Serenity's tears brushed over his eyes, and some were swept over his lips. As he angrily opened his mouth to yell at her, a curious expression crossed his face. He licked his lips nervously as his eyes seemed to focus, unfocus, refocus and unfocus again. And then he blinked several times, as if trying to get a mild irritation out of them.

He licked his lips again, a thoughtful frown creasing between his brows.

"Remember who you are," Serenity pleaded breathlessly, feeling the hands gripping her wrists start to slacken. And before her very eyes, Endymion began to change. New Endymion was transforming into Old Endymion. The warmth and colour came back to his skin, the real Endymion's eyes and mouth returning. Emotion returned, and one that belonged on his face. It started with confusion, transitioning into bewilderment before melting into happiness. His eyes widened as he took in the girl standing before him. He let out a laugh and his grip on her wrists tightened again, pulling her to him for an embrace that lasted several minutes.

Serenity then started crying all over again, sobbing into the crook of his neck, unable to believe that her Endymion was back. Her best friend, her other half, her soul mate was back with her, and she was never ever going to let him go again!

She pulled back just far enough to study his face again, scared that if she blinked or looked away, this would all be some cruel joke and the New Endymion would return. But the ice in his heart and eye had melted, thanks to her tears, and she was staring at the Old Endymion.

There was something so pure, something so innocent in his expression that Serenity couldn't help the sob that ripped up her throat. He was back, he was really back.

And to both their surprise, Old Endymion ducked his head and captured Serenity's surprised lips with his own. His longing to hold her finally quenched after four years – the desire to kiss her had been too much. But Serenity understood. His freedom, his best friend, his life returned to him. It was a lot to swallow. And as Endymion wrapped his arms around Serenity, both pulling her closer to him and dipping her back slightly for better angle, she thought _it can't get any better than this._

The doors on the other side of the large room burst open with a loud bang and a furious gust of wind. Serenity and Endymion jerked apart, staring up the new arrival.

_But it certainly could take a turn for a worse._


	28. The Snow Queen

**The Snow Queen**

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><p>"So you're the reason I have no guards outside," she said softly, her voice floating across the room as if a cool, wintery breeze. Serenity shivered as the air around her seemed to freeze, and a chill ran down her spine. She felt Endymion's arms stiffen around her, subconsciously pulling her into him. Serenity saw the Snow Queen's eyes zero in on the minute movement.<p>

"How touching." Her cold lips tugged upwards in a humourless smile. "But you won't be leaving, either of you. Ever."

"We _are_ leaving and there's nothing you can do about it," Serenity spat back, a spark of courage momentarily shooting through her. She had come so far, her journey would not be unsuccessful. "Endymion has been trapped here long enough!"

"Trapped?" The woman looked affronted, with what little emotion she expressed. "Hardly. My darling Endymion came here willingly. And he'll stay here forever. By my side. He _loves_ me."

"Loves you?" Serenity cried as Endymion tugged at her until she found herself behind him, peering around his shoulder. He was shielding her.

"Beryl, I don't love you," he said in a deep, firm voice. "I never have and you know it. Your spells won't work anymore."

"Spells?" The Snow Queen scoffed lightly. "Don't be ridiculous, young man. I have never put you under a spell. You came to me all on your own."

"Endymion, she's telling the truth," Serenity whispered through tight lips, clutching his elbow nervously. Her spark of courage had distinguished quickly. "That was the Wiseman's mirror. She had nothing to do with it."

"Rubbish," Endymion continued loudly, unfortunately lacking the power the Snow Queen had of being able to communicate across the large expanse of the room without raising his voice. "You lured me here. You and your enchantments, I know all about them. Your mesmerising looks, your magnetic pull. It's all magic. But that's broken now."

"You were chosen by the gods to solve my puzzle and you will not leave until it is finished." Her ruby eyes flashed dangerously. "Why else would you have come to me?"

"The puzzle can never be solved!" Endymion yelled furiously. "It's your own fault you were cursed and it should be you who has to deal with the consequences!" Serenity found herself almost quivering now from Endymion's rage, as well as the cold. From her angle behind him, she could see his eyes dart swiftly around the central hall, trying to find an escape route. But she'd already looked, and there was none. The only way in and out of the room was guarded by the very witch who intended to keep them in.

"I don't like your tone, you disloyal boy," she temperatures dropped even further as she spoke. Serenity felt her toes freeze, and a strange sensation begin to crawl across her feet. "I thought you would be the answer but you are just like the others!"

_Others_? Serenity blinked.

The Snow Queen's gaze slid to Serenity, studying her face, her red eyes taking in every detail. A spark of recognition briefly flashed across her face. "You've been here before," she said softly to Serenity.

Serenity slowly turned her head in confusion, but before she could shake it properly, the queen clicked her fingers, and a blast of wind exploded into the room. "No, not you," she said. "But someone from your family. Yes, I remember now. A young boy. He seemed so bright and promising when I met him. But what a disappointment he turned out to be." Her face took on a look of mocking regret and sadness. Serenity stiffened and Endymion's hand sought hers.

"No," she breathed, trying _not_ to imagine what she was already imagining.

The winds stirred around the room, swirling powerfully. If Serenity hadn't had Endymion's grip to hold on to, she felt she would have been lifted off the ground. A twister began to form in the middle of the room, turning white as snow began to accumulate in it. When the twister died down, an ice sculpture remained. Serenity's heart gave a startling flip in recognition, even as her brain tried to deny what it was seeing.

"You've seen my statues outside of course?" the Snow Queen asked, gliding slowly towards them. "It gets so terribly lonely here in this large palace all by myself. When I'm not with my Endymion." She smirked softly. "So I have to create my own friends. Once they've grown useless to me in every other possible way." She reached for the statue and put a pale hand up to the icy face, squeezing the jaw gently. "Ah yes," she whispered. "The same cheekbones, the same nose. And if I remember correctly, the same eyes too..." She craned her neck to glance over at Serenity. "That exact shade of blue that reminds me of the summer sky. You both share it." She dropped her hand and grimaced. "I hate summer."

"Sammy," Serenity whimpered, feeling her knees go weak. The odd sensation was climbing over her ankles, but she didn't take any notice. "No, no, no, no," she sobbed, clutching Endymion's arm as his other snaked around her waist.

"I must admit, it's a delight to suddenly find myself the owner of a matching set," the Snow Queen continued. "A brother and sister, both alike in looks and spirit. Before his spirit broke of course."

"Release him from his frozen prison," Endymion called out. "And I promise you I will stay here in this palace until I have completed the puzzle."

Serenity's eyes widened. "Endy, no!" She clutched his shoulders. "We'll come back for him. We'll find another way. But we have to get you out of here first."

"Do we have a deal?" he asked loudly, ignoring Serenity's pleas and focusing on the Snow Queen. "Beryl. It's his freedom for my imprisonment. Then everybody here gets what they want."

"You have a deal," she agreed after a moment's thought. "If you can complete the puzzle and bring me my freedom, then I grant all three of you yours."

Endymion tugged his arm from Serenity's grip, ignoring her cries as he strode over to make the deal. He put out his hand and shook with the Snow Queen, making it official.

Placing a frozen, milky white hand against his clenched jaw, she blew him a kiss that was like a breath of frost. And then she turned on her heel and strode back towards the door to the corridor that lead out of the central hall.

"Oh," she said, turning around as if suddenly remembering something. Her eyes sparkled cruelly like the ice on the top of the palace's turrets. "I forgot to mention. You have a time limit. You must solve it before the lake thaws completely, or else your friends will sink and surely drown. That way, I am guaranteed either my curse lifting, or you by my side forever. It is win-win." She waved gracefully before gliding away, the doors slamming shut loudly behind her.

Endymion's eyes widened and he slowly craned his neck to look back at Serenity. He met her gaze and together they looked down in horror. From the knees down, she was frozen in place. She was turning into an ice sculpture.

"Serenity!" Endymion raced back and caught her up in his arms. "I'm going to pull and it might hurt a little," he said, tightening his grip around her waist. "Okay?" She nodded and braced herself as her upper body was lifted. She held back her cry of pain as her middle protested. Her legs were now stuck solidly to the ice of the floor, and would not separate, no matter how much Endymion tried to pull her top half out.

"It's no use," she said, pushing him away. "You need to work on the puzzle!" She let out a shriek of pain as the ice climbed past her knees, freezing her lower thighs in place.

"I have to make a word," Endymion looked around wildly at all the pieces of ice on the floor. "Eternity. It'll free the Snow Queen from a curse placed on her by the Wise Man."

Serenity's breath hitched at the name but as the ice snapped higher over her skin, she knew they didn't have much time. "How far have you gotten?" she grunted instead.

"I haven't even found a damn letter yet," fumed the dark haired boy, scratching the back of his head in frustration. "There are hundreds of thousands of pieces to this puzzle. Perhaps millions or billions. It could take decades just to find one letter."

"Well we don't have that long." Serenity pointed to the edge of the room, where a thick dark blue band could be seen. It was water. The floor they were standing on - or stuck to - was a frozen lake. "It looks like it's thawing pretty fast."

"Is that witch insane? If the floor melts, then all the pieces go down with it." He picked up a piece that was jagged, like a fork of lightning and threw it across the room. It hit the wall and smashed into a thousand pieces, raining down into the water like dust. "What should we do?" Endymion asked, picking up another one. "Process of elimination? Throw every piece that isn't a letter from 'eternity' into the water? They're going down anyway."

"No," Serenity said thoughtfully. "I think it's more complicated than that. Besides, the lake is melting from all the edges. You can't run around this whole room and look through them all before they fall in."

"Well what do you want me to do?" Endymion asked as he picked up several more pieces, throwing them over his shoulder when he saw they weren't the ones he was looking for.

"I'm not letting you die."

"And I'm not letting _you_ die." Serenity frowned. "Listen, if it does come to it," - she jerked as the ice reached her hips - "I want you to swim through the lake, exit through that door and follow the corridors until they take you to the courtyard. If you run out the main doors and keep running until you get to the bush of red berries, I have a friend who will take you home."

"Well good thing it isn't going to come to that." Endymion grunted as he dived to his knees and began frantically throwing puzzle pieces of ice over his shoulders like he was digging in some bizarre ritual. "Can you see anything from where you are?"

"No," Serenity said sadly, wishing she could have frozen standing on her toes so she would have had more height. The ice was now climbing up past her waist. She wouldn't be able to move around freely for much longer.

Endymion looked up and panic flared in his eyes. "Come on," he growled under his breath, throwing himself more fervently into his search. "Think. Think!"

"Endy," Serenity whispered, holding her bag aloft in the air, having snatched it from over her shoulder at the last second before it had attached to her waist. The ice was now almost at her armpits. She could feel tingling in her fingertips, similar to the feeling when she had forgotten her gloves as a child and felt her fingers start to lose circulation. "Do something for me."

"What?" He looked up, briefly pausing in his actions before remembering what he was doing and diving back into the job at hand.

"Play the locket." She dangled the bag out before her, eyes begging him to grant her her last wish. "Play our song."

Endymion held her stare for several seconds before jumping to his feet and grabbing the bag. He stuck his hand in and pulled out a familiarly shaped object. His mother's locket. The one he'd given to Serenity on her fifteenth birthday. His fingers fumbled for the catch, but he couldn't for the life of him remember how to open it.

He glanced up distractedly at Serenity, seeing the ice had climbed up her arms, sitting at her elbows like elegant blue-white gloves, which matched the high necked gown that now dressed her. Only her collarbone and up were still uncovered flesh, and it frightened him.

Serenity's eyes were sad but accepting. "It's okay," she said when she saw his panic. "As long as you're safe and you make it home to Gran and the town, that's all I care about. I came here to save you, didn't I?" She swallowed painfully, feeling her time running out like powdered snow trickling through one's splayed fingers. Endymion leapt forward, capturing her lips with his own, lending much needed warmth to her cold ones. A hot tear travelled down Serenity's cheek, splashing onto Endymion's chin as the ice covered her own. It was harder to move her lips now, but she still gave him everything she had, silently conversing all her feelings for him.

Finally Endymion's fingers caught the latch on the locket. He pushed down and gave it a slight twist, like his mother had taught him all those years ago. Soft, tinkling music began to play, echoing around in the large, silent chamber. And Endymion felt Serenity's lips stop. They were now ice.

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><p><strong>AN: (Decided to put this at the bottom to avoid spoilers) <strong>Ack! I had so many awesome choices for titles with this one! I wanted to go with 'The Puzzle' (because the next chapter's name would suit it very nicely) or 'The Surprise Hostage' but that may ruin the element of surprise I had going w Sammy... But alas, The Snow Queen seemed most fitting considering the entire story is about her evil doings. Mwahaha, oh Beryl, you so evil! Why you so evil?


	29. The Final Escape

**AN: **Second last chapter! Love/hate where we are? Let me know your thoughts with some clicky clicks to the reviews button! We are so close to the end :D

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><p><strong>The <em>Final <em>Escape**

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><p>Endymion watched as Serenity's prison of ice canvassed over her eyes and ascended quickly, capturing all remaining uncovered flesh. Her eyes were frozen open, widened with both fear and begging. He looked around the room, watching pieces of the puzzle slip into the water as the entire circumference of the lake grew smaller and smaller. He sank to his knees, staring up at his once-best-friend-now-realised-soulmate as the music from his mother's locket played sadly, the only remaining sound in the room. She had wanted him to flee, but he couldn't just leave her. And what about Sammy? He would be sinking into the water before her - already the edge of the ice was creeping towards him and was only metres away. He didn't know what to do. What would Serenity do?<p>

Serenity would be clever and think of a way to get them out of there, wouldn't she? He frowned as he tried to tune out the music. He swivelled his head around, looking for a weapon. Anything that he could use to break the ice that imprisoned Serenity. But there wasn't anything. Maybe if they were in the Throne Room, or the dining hall...

He slammed his fist down onto the ground with a pained cry. The locket continued to tinkle out its beautiful but morose song, and the sound that had once reminded them of the love between his parents now made him think of his with Serenity. And how thanks to him and his blind approaching of the Snow Queen, that was now broken. Serenity was sure to die. And he wasn't sure if he would let her go down alone.

"I'll love you until the end of time," he said as he stared up at her face. She had been so brave, searching for him after all this time. He knew just from the state of her clothes - and especially her boots - that it had been no easy feat. He hung his head. "Because our love is eternal"

And then he crossed his legs and sat there, waiting for death to eventually claim them. It wasn't that he was giving up - Endymion could never be accused of giving up. It was more that he was recognising defeat and spending his last few minutes with the one he had wanted to share the rest of his life with. And it looked like they would. All five to ten minutes of it. He didn't want to waste it looking for puzzle pieces that he knew he'd never find.

With a rough and freezing hand, he rubbed his eyes. A wind had picked up and it was stinging his eyes. And the last time his eye had stung, everything had gone downhill. The puzzle pieces were even starting to move, the wind was so strong! Some were being picked up and tossed around like they were merely made of paper. Others started to meld together as if they were the consistency of melted butter on warm toast. It was then, as Endymion was remembering Gran and how she'd always give him raisin toast on a cold winter's morning, that he realised something was happening. Something that wasn't the Snow Queen's doing. The wind was not one of hers. And if anything, he could swear he was watching the puzzle fit together. And as each piece was as different and unique as a snowflake, that was a difficult task, to piece them together.

Soon bright white pieces that had slipped off the edge of the lake into the dark blue water remerged, carried by the winds and connecting with other pieces.

It was a miracle, but, the puzzle was making itself!

Endymion jumped to his feet and watched as large letters became visible through the whirlwind. 'ET' and 'ITY' could already be seen, swaying on the floor like they were being pulled around by magnets.

"I don't believe it," he whispered. "All these years I've been looking for letters, and you had to make them yourself." He groaned. "Looks like I'm not as clever as I think I am."

He ducked as 'RN' flew over his head, narrowly missing knocking him out.

He watched in disbelief and fascination as only one letter remained, before a cracking sound echoed around the room. He glanced over to see Sammy's frozen statue standing at a 40 degree angle. It was in the process of falling into the water! Endymion rushed over to pull it back, but he couldn't get a grip. The ice was too cold and too slippery. He contemplated jumping into the water and trying to keep it afloat once it fell in, but another look at the statue turned down the idea. It wouldn't be held up by anything weaker than an elephant, by the looks of it.

"Concentrate," Endymion growled under his breath as he felt himself get sidetracked. It was as if a veil had been lifted from over his eyes. His brain was no longer foggy, his heart was no longer stone cold, and his eyes saw everything exactly the way it was - which at present, was tragic. He was having trouble focusing, with all the extra stimulation suddenly being thrown at him, and he no longer being impervious to it.

The locket was being blown about, and was sliding towards the edge of the crumbling lake several metres away from Endymion. He glanced between Sammy and the locket. The locket he could save, Sammy he could not. But Sammy was Serenity's younger brother; the locket was just an object.

At the last second, Endymion dived to snatch the locket as it flew over the edge, only just managing to catch the chain in his fingers and save it from the fate of the water.

_ETERNITY_

The winds died down, and Endymion was left panting as he stared into his reflection. It had been so long since he had seen himself and was surprised by how mature his face had gotten. A cracking sound erupted, and he watched over his shoulder as a fissure began to thread up Serenity's leg. He could hear the ice breaking from inside in long, low hisses and crackles. His eyes darted between Serenity and Sammy, but Sammy didn't appear to have changed in any way. The ice surrounded Serenity's fingers broke off in a large chunk, and he raced over to inspect her dainty little fingers. He didn't know whether he should help break the ice or let it do it on its own - he didn't want to stop the magic that was working at her freedom. Two of the pale white fingers twitched, but Endymion couldn't be sure if that was his imagination or not. When another chunk of ice broke away, leaving her entire palm exposed and dripping with water, he enclosed it in both of his own, willing his little warmth to transfer to her. A sad smile flickered as he remembered once wishing he could hold Serenity's hand, to know what it would feel like. What cruel irony.

Water dripped over his wrists as the ice capturing her arm weakened. It snapped off and fell to the ground, shattering into hundreds of small pieces. The ice was breaking faster now, as the large fissures began to weaken the integrity of the whole statue and cracks began to crawl around everywhere, like self-forming spider webs. But Endymion held on to Serenity's hand the entire time, until at last, the splinters broke around her face and she took in her first gasp of cool, fresh air.

"Sere," Endymion whispered in relief, feeling a weight lift off his chest. She was free again - _he_ was free again!

A large chunk surrounding Serenity's midriff broke away and she was able to move without restraint again. She reached out and hugged Endymion, who returned it fiercely.

"I am going to be so cold when this finishes," Serenity said, glancing down at her soaking wet dress. They both laughed as if she had just told the funniest joke of the century, even as she shivered.

**CRRRREAAAAAK.**

_**SPLASH.**_

Serenity stopped trying to twist out of her leg locks and looked over Endymion's shoulder. "Sammy? SAMMY?"

"Oh my Lord, get me out of here, get me out of here, it's freezing!"

Endymion rushed over to pull the boy out of the water, who collapsed on the ice and hacked many deep coughs.

"Sammy!" Serenity cried, returning to her task of breaking out of the remaining ice, which shackled her from the knees and down.

"S...Serenity?" Sammy's face crumpled in confusion. "Is that you?" He looked up at the man who had pulled him from the water. "You're..." his eyes narrowed and an extreme look of concentration crossed his young face.

"I'm Endymion. I live next door to you."

"Oh yeah, hey, since when did you get so old?"

It was then that Serenity and Endymion noticed something. Sammy was not aged all those years he had been imprisoned as ice. He looked as if he were twelve years old.

"Sammy, how long have you been here?" Endymion asked with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Well... I don't know. I haven't been frozen that long. I think. She said she was going to find someone else to finish the puzzle. Did she come find you?" His eyes bulged momentarily. "Where is she?" he whispered in fear, ducking his head and glancing around.

"She's gone to the mountains to recap the snow, you're safe for now," Endymion said. "So you went missing when you were twelve, and I've been here nearly five years, which means you should be... 17 years old."

"And you're both grown ups," Sammy added, glancing between his sister and his next door neighbour. "How'd you even get here? Did you come together? I thought you hadn't even ever spoken to each other! Mum thinks you're going to fall in love some day." He snapped his mouth shut. "I'm just kidding," he said before sobering. "So, where is mum?"

"At home," said Serenity as she tugged at her left leg. Her ankle was still stuck to the ice below. "Which is where we're going now, as soon as I can..." She was joined by Endymion, who grabbed her lower calf with two sturdy hands and pulled. The ice snapped apart and Endymion narrowly missed being knocked out again, for the second time in an hour. "Right, _now_ we can go home."


End file.
